“No more whining,” says Bolsonaro after record daily deaths

By Gustavo Ribeiro

One thing no one can take from President Jair Bolsonaro is his consistency when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. From early on — and until now — the president has incited supporters to flout social distancing guidelines, he has spread pandemic misinformation on a weekly basis … and he has routinely shrugged as the coronavirus death toll piles up.

In his latest example of indifference, Mr. Bolsonaro said: “We’ve got to face our problems. No more whining. How long are they going to keep crying?” Not long after, the president published a text on social media saying that “essential activities are every activity necessary for the head of a family to earn his daily bread.”

Back on May 1, 2020, we published a 90-second video tracking the exponential growth of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths in the country — punctuated by Mr. Bolsonaro’s quotes showing his indifference to public health concerns.

Brazil has seen record numbers of new daily deaths for the past two days. And the seven-day rolling average of new infections and deaths is as high as ever. Meanwhile, vaccination efforts have stalled and new coronavirus variants are leading multiple states to the brink of collapse.

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