Coronavirus

Brazil insists on botched strategies against the coronavirus

The Brazilian government has not learned any lessons from its first failed coronavirus response

coronavirus second wave brazil
Red Cross rally to test people in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Jorge Hely Veiga/Shutterstock

With a potential second coronavirus wave on the horizon for Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro has stuck to his denialist stance on the pandemic, speaking out regularly against measures that could impede the spread of the virus that has killed over 170,000 Brazilians.

As The Brazilian Report has shown, even the use of masks within the federal administration is treated as an act of betrayal, depriving aides and other government employees of one of the most effective barriers against infection.

Earlier this month, Mr. Bolsonaro celebrated the brief suspension of late-stage clinical trials of the originally Chinese-made CoronaVac vaccine, which were controversially paused after a volunteer committed suicide. Less than two days later, he declared that Brazil “must stop being a country of sissies,” complaining of “excessive” news coverage on the Covid-19 pandemic.

And with coronavirus cases increasing once more around the country — indicating the possibility of a second and more lethal wave of infections — further information has come to light to corroborate accusations of malfeasance and incompetence within the federal government during its fight against the pandemic.

Brazil has no coronavirus vaccination plan

It was revealed on Tuesday that the...

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