Podcast

Explaining Brazil #109: The price of a human life

The Covid-19 pandemic has often been compared to a war situation. And, in truth, it has certainly caused more human losses than many armed conflicts. In a war, the job of a head of state is to choose the paths that will likely cause fewer deaths. This means that, on many occasions, deciding who will be more exposed to death becomes part of the job description.

So which approach to the Covid-19 crisis will cause the least damage — and cost the fewest lives?

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On this episode:

Diego Cardoso is a Ph.D. candidate in Applied Economics at Cornell University and a senior researcher at think tank Instituto Mercado Popular. Alongside Northwestern University’s Ricardo Dahis, he calculated the benefits of social distancing and other mitigation strategies to combat Covid-19 in 43 countries — including Brazil.

Background reading:

We have set up a paywall-free Covid-19 Live Blog. Visit now!
Reporter Natália Scalzaretto shows that social isolation is set to spur Brazilian banks’ digital transformation.
To encourage social isolation, São Paulo could create a six-day ‘weekend.’ Our May 19 Daily Briefing explained why the idea has ‘failure’ written all over it.
In Brazilian favelas, social isolation is nearly impossible — making these peripheral communities breeding grounds for the coronavirus.
The first state to reopen its economy, Santa Catarina is a cautionary tale for Brazil — and could become the country’s next Covid-19 epicenter.

Explaining Brazil is made by:

Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
Euan Marshall, editing. Euan is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.

Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at podcast@brazilian.report

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