ugc_banner

Bolsonaro's Brazil struggles to curb coronavirus pandemic

WION
New Delhi, IndiaEdited By: Palki SharmaUpdated: May 16, 2020, 12:13 AM IST
main img
Photograph:(AFP)

Story highlights

With over 2 lakh confirmed cases and more than 14,000 coronavirus deaths the country appears to be clueless about how to handle the crisis.

Brazil is struggling to keep a check on the rising number of coronavirus cases in the countries as a result of which it now has the sixth highest number of cases.

With over 2 lakh confirmed cases and more than 14,000 coronavirus deaths the country appears to be clueless about how to handle the crisis.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro begun with denial and swum against the tide of scientific opinion since the crisis broke out.

First, he downplayed the threat of the virus and then focused on the country's economies despite rising cases.

The federal governors and supreme court of Brazil shut down the country to curb the outbreak.

However, Bolsonaro led protests across the country to defy the lockdown, He chose fear mongering as his choice of weapon.

During his protests, he said "they have to reopen otherwise, we will die of starvation.''

He believes that the governors of Brazil are the real troublemakers rather than the virus itself.

While authorities were busy with the blame game, coronavirus swept through the country.

As a result of which the country's death toll is rising. Corpses have inundated Brazil. In Sao Paulo, officials are building at least 13,000 vertical cemeteries to find space to bury the huge pile of bodies.

The coronavirus has also spread to remote areas is turning into a logistical nightmare

Approximately 1,500 miles from Sao Paulo, funeral service workers were told to pick up a body of an 86-year-old victim from a river-side village.

Her body had to be transferred to the city by boat because of the lack of facilities in her area. The villagers do not have access to testing but their biggest enemy is not the Wuhan virus

It is govt apathy and a President who refuses to acknowledge the crisis.

Bolosonaro has allowed gyms and salons to reopen and has issued a decree branding these services as essential.

And now, he is challenging governors to contest it. He said "health is life. Gyms, hair dressers and barbers too, that is hygiene, it is life. These three categories add more than one million jobs.

He is prioritising the economy over life as a result of which his disapproval rating has increased to 55 per cent. 

It was 47 per cent in January. It has declined by 8 per cent.