Pandemic politics costing lives in Brazil
Issued on: 12/05/2020
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's (pictured May 6, 2020) criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister EVARISTO SA AFP/File
Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro keeps saying coronavirus fears are overblown. Other officials at the federal, state and local levels insist the danger is all too real.
Brazil is torn by a deep political divide over how to respond to the pandemic, and it is taking a heavy human toll.
On Saturday, even as the death toll in Brazil crossed the threshold of 10,000, Bolsonaro continued pressing to get the country back to work.
"The army of unemployed keeps growing," he tweeted.
"Is chaos coming?" added the far-right leader, who has compared the virus to a "little flu" and condemned the "hysteria" surrounding it.
Some argue the "chaos" is already here -- at least as far as the Brazilian government's response goes.
Bolsonaro's criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister.
The president sacked the latter, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, last month after a long series of public spats.
Meanwhile, Brazil has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, with 11,519 deaths so far.
Experts say under-testing means the real figure is likely far higher, and that things stand to get a lot worse.
"We know from history that anytime there's such a cacophony in a situation like this, such huge disagreement on public policy among leaders, tragedy ensues," said Brazilian historian Sidney Chalhoub, a professor at Harvard University.
As an example, he cited the last major cholera outbreak in Europe, in the late 19th century, that killed more than 10,000 people in Hamburg, Germany.
"It was largely caused by divisions between the local political elite and dominant economic interests, which trumped public health concerns. And the result was an even bigger economic catastrophe," he said.
- Polarizing disease -
Bolsonaro supporters have held a series of anti-confinement protests in recent weeks.
Sometimes the president himself has joined in, hitting the street, shaking hands and giving fiery speeches, all while refusing to wear a face mask.
The protests have included virulent attacks on Congress and the Supreme Court, which have moved to counter Bolsonaro's anti-confinement measures.
At times, they have erupted into violence, including against journalists and even nurses.
But a recent poll by the Datafolha institute found that 67 percent of Brazilians believe stay-at-home measures are needed to contain the virus, even if they hurt the economy.
Even in his own camp, Bolsonaro's support is far from universal.
Another poll found that while 56 percent of those who call themselves right-wing or center-right supported the president's handling of the pandemic, 40 percent did not.
"The more closely related people are to someone who has been infected or died, the more they distance themselves from Bolsonaro," said political scientist Carlos Pereira of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, who conducted the latter poll.
- 'Anti-knowledge' -
Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he admires, Bolsonaro has touted the medication chloroquine as a wonder drug against COVID-19.
Scientists at Brazil's leading public health research institute, Fiocruz, have stated that preliminary studies do not indicate chloroquine is an effective treatment for the disease.
Perceived to be attacking the president, they have received threats on social media in response.
"We're talking about a far-right, anti-democratic government," some of whose supporters have "fascist" tendencies, said sociologist Debora Messenberg, of the University of Brasilia.
"We can't even talk about society being 'polarized' in the usual sense. It's not a democratic polarization. Right now, the debate is between democracy and authoritarianism," she said.
Brazil, like the United States, is facing the pandemic "with a government that is anti-knowledge," said Chalhoub.
The Bolsonaro administration "is depicting this as a public health catastrophe versus an economic catastrophe. But that's a harmful view that will drive us toward both," he said.
© 2020 AFP
Bolsonaro allows Brazilians to go to gyms, hair salons, as Covid-19 cases spike
Issued on: 12/05/202
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Text by:NEWS WIRES
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday declared gyms and hair salons as essential services that can stay open through the new coronavirus outbreak, easing measures to control the disease despite new cases and deaths surging in the country.
Brazil has now registered a total of 168,331 confirmed cases of the virus and is closing in on the number of cases recorded in Germany and France, where the outbreak has been slowing. To date, Brazil has confirmed 11,519 deaths due to the disease.
The president has argued that state and municipal governments have gone overboard in social isolation measures to restrict the disease's spread and that it is overly damaging to the economy.
"The question of life has to be taken in parallel with jobs," Bolsonaro told reporters outside his official residence. "Without the economy there is no life, there are no doctors, there are no hospital supplies."
Bolsonaro's latest decree allowing more establishments to stay open comes as Brazil registered 5,632 new coronavirus cases on Monday and 396 deaths from the disease, according to the Health Ministry.
After initially decreeing that establishments such as pharmacies and grocery stores were essential, Bolsonaro later expanded that list to include lotteries and churches.
This third decree expands the list of essential business further, also extending it to industrial production and civil construction, with Bolsonaro promising even more easing to come.
Health Minister Nelson Teich told a briefing on Monday that the ministry had not been consulted about Bolsonaro's decision to allow gyms and beauty salons to reopen.
The ministry also said in a statement that it had issued guidelines to state and municipal authorities on the range of social distancing standards, from strict to loose, saying the ultimate decisions rests with local governments.
"It is local health authorities' responsibility to adopt or loosen non-pharmalogical measures," it said.
Global automaker Fiat Chrysler on Monday said it was gradually restarting production at three factories in Brazil, with more than half of its roughly 10,000 employees in the country already returning to work.
The plants had been halted for 48 days, Fiat Chrysler said in a statement. The first task was to train employees on new health precautions, it said.
(REUTERS)
Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro keeps saying coronavirus fears are overblown. Other officials at the federal, state and local levels insist the danger is all too real.
Brazil is torn by a deep political divide over how to respond to the pandemic, and it is taking a heavy human toll.
On Saturday, even as the death toll in Brazil crossed the threshold of 10,000, Bolsonaro continued pressing to get the country back to work.
"The army of unemployed keeps growing," he tweeted.
"Is chaos coming?" added the far-right leader, who has compared the virus to a "little flu" and condemned the "hysteria" surrounding it.
Some argue the "chaos" is already here -- at least as far as the Brazilian government's response goes.
Bolsonaro's criticism of stay-at-home measures to fight the virus has put him at odds with state and local authorities across Brazil, not to mention his own former health minister.
The president sacked the latter, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, last month after a long series of public spats.
Meanwhile, Brazil has emerged as the epicenter of the pandemic in Latin America, with 11,519 deaths so far.
Experts say under-testing means the real figure is likely far higher, and that things stand to get a lot worse.
"We know from history that anytime there's such a cacophony in a situation like this, such huge disagreement on public policy among leaders, tragedy ensues," said Brazilian historian Sidney Chalhoub, a professor at Harvard University.
As an example, he cited the last major cholera outbreak in Europe, in the late 19th century, that killed more than 10,000 people in Hamburg, Germany.
"It was largely caused by divisions between the local political elite and dominant economic interests, which trumped public health concerns. And the result was an even bigger economic catastrophe," he said.
- Polarizing disease -
Bolsonaro supporters have held a series of anti-confinement protests in recent weeks.
Sometimes the president himself has joined in, hitting the street, shaking hands and giving fiery speeches, all while refusing to wear a face mask.
The protests have included virulent attacks on Congress and the Supreme Court, which have moved to counter Bolsonaro's anti-confinement measures.
At times, they have erupted into violence, including against journalists and even nurses.
But a recent poll by the Datafolha institute found that 67 percent of Brazilians believe stay-at-home measures are needed to contain the virus, even if they hurt the economy.
Even in his own camp, Bolsonaro's support is far from universal.
Another poll found that while 56 percent of those who call themselves right-wing or center-right supported the president's handling of the pandemic, 40 percent did not.
"The more closely related people are to someone who has been infected or died, the more they distance themselves from Bolsonaro," said political scientist Carlos Pereira of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, who conducted the latter poll.
- 'Anti-knowledge' -
Like his US counterpart Donald Trump, whom he admires, Bolsonaro has touted the medication chloroquine as a wonder drug against COVID-19.
Scientists at Brazil's leading public health research institute, Fiocruz, have stated that preliminary studies do not indicate chloroquine is an effective treatment for the disease.
Perceived to be attacking the president, they have received threats on social media in response.
"We're talking about a far-right, anti-democratic government," some of whose supporters have "fascist" tendencies, said sociologist Debora Messenberg, of the University of Brasilia.
"We can't even talk about society being 'polarized' in the usual sense. It's not a democratic polarization. Right now, the debate is between democracy and authoritarianism," she said.
Brazil, like the United States, is facing the pandemic "with a government that is anti-knowledge," said Chalhoub.
The Bolsonaro administration "is depicting this as a public health catastrophe versus an economic catastrophe. But that's a harmful view that will drive us toward both," he said.
© 2020 AFP
Bolsonaro allows Brazilians to go to gyms, hair salons, as Covid-19 cases spike
Issued on: 12/05/202
An agent checks the temperature of a driver at the entrance of Niteroi city, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 11, 2020, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues. © Ricardo Moraes, Reuters
Text by:NEWS WIRES
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday declared gyms and hair salons as essential services that can stay open through the new coronavirus outbreak, easing measures to control the disease despite new cases and deaths surging in the country.
Brazil has now registered a total of 168,331 confirmed cases of the virus and is closing in on the number of cases recorded in Germany and France, where the outbreak has been slowing. To date, Brazil has confirmed 11,519 deaths due to the disease.
The president has argued that state and municipal governments have gone overboard in social isolation measures to restrict the disease's spread and that it is overly damaging to the economy.
"The question of life has to be taken in parallel with jobs," Bolsonaro told reporters outside his official residence. "Without the economy there is no life, there are no doctors, there are no hospital supplies."
Bolsonaro's latest decree allowing more establishments to stay open comes as Brazil registered 5,632 new coronavirus cases on Monday and 396 deaths from the disease, according to the Health Ministry.
After initially decreeing that establishments such as pharmacies and grocery stores were essential, Bolsonaro later expanded that list to include lotteries and churches.
This third decree expands the list of essential business further, also extending it to industrial production and civil construction, with Bolsonaro promising even more easing to come.
Health Minister Nelson Teich told a briefing on Monday that the ministry had not been consulted about Bolsonaro's decision to allow gyms and beauty salons to reopen.
The ministry also said in a statement that it had issued guidelines to state and municipal authorities on the range of social distancing standards, from strict to loose, saying the ultimate decisions rests with local governments.
"It is local health authorities' responsibility to adopt or loosen non-pharmalogical measures," it said.
Global automaker Fiat Chrysler on Monday said it was gradually restarting production at three factories in Brazil, with more than half of its roughly 10,000 employees in the country already returning to work.
The plants had been halted for 48 days, Fiat Chrysler said in a statement. The first task was to train employees on new health precautions, it said.
(REUTERS)
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