The denial of Jair Bolsonaro, President of Brazil, could cost him dearly.
Since the beginning of the crisis, he has not ceased to downplay the seriousness of this “gripezinha” (“little flu”), and has been on a series of mob baths, hugs and selfies with his supporters. Today, Brazil is the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 40,000 victims and 772,000 recorded cases, according to official (probably underestimated) figures.
The Brazilian scientific world is facing a double challenge: the control of the disease… and the control of the president, who is very resistant to scientific discourse (since March, two ministers of health have successively left) and much more sensitive to the “immunizing” preaching of the evangelical churches to which he is very close, which refused to close their doors.
Faced with the threat of a serious economic recession, the country, at the peak of the epidemic and socially more divided than ever, is embarking on a high-risk deconfinement. Calls for impeachment are growing and anger is growing…
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