No reason for laughter as Brazil descends into crisis

Since The Brazilian Report began publishing weekly cartoons, we’ve looked to lampoon the biggest events in Brazil with healthy doses of sarcasm and needle. Here, we look to cover the most bizarre events of the country’s news cycle, from political and climate issues to heated public debates. 

But not this week. One year after the first coronavirus case was reported in Brazil, March 2021 has seen the country hit an all-time daily record of Covid-19 deaths: on Wednesday, 1,910 people died within 24 hours. On Thursday morning, President Jair Bolsonaro urged the country to stop complaining. “How long are you going to keep crying for?” he said. 

The situation is demoralizing and no quick-witted line or illustration can come close to encapsulating the scale of the health disaster in Brazil. We could talk about vaccines, but the country’s immunization effort is desperately slow. It would need to be conducted 11 times faster in order to vaccinate the entire population by the end of the year. 

In respect to all the victims and their families, this week we decided to express our deep condolences, hoping that the country can somehow turn the corner and stop the onslaught of needless deaths. 

Stay home, stay safe, wear masks, and wash your hands. Our cartoon will be back next week.

Read more

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• São Paulo back to quarantine mode