We’re covering today Brazil’s latest moves to prevent the coronavirus from reaching the country. The government’s non-committal approach to its supposed priority. And a possible change in how Supreme Court justices are chosen.
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Brazil to declare coronavirus “emergency”
Despite having no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus within its borders—though having 14 suspected cases—the Brazilian government will move to declare a state of “public health emergency.” The last time this happened was in 2015 during the Zika virus outbreak. Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said the status will help the government to fast-track the purchase of sanitary equipment and to create quarantine facilities.
A bill establishing a mandatory 18-day quarantine for infected people is also being drafted.
Why it matters. The coronavirus is “almost certainly going to be a pandemic,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to The New York Times on Sunday. Last week, the World Health Organisation classified the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern.”
Brazilians in Wuhan. Between 40 and 50 Brazilian nationals are in Wuhan, a city in Central China considered to be the epicenter...