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The positions of the Brazilian president regarding Covid-19 have bordered on denialism and that cost the country a late and stumbling response to the health crisis. In fact, Bolsonaro has been accused of crimes against humanity by a Senate investigation commission. However, will this situation that few forget affect the electoral result of the presidential elections on October 30? We analyze it.
“I think the coronavirus issue is oversized,” said Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil in March 2020. Two and a half years later, the country has accumulated 687,962 deaths from Covid-19, more than 3,200 for every million inhabitants. It is the second country with the highest mortality according to population, after Peru.
Bolsonaro’s management in the face of the pandemic and his continued undermining – for example, when he went out to greet his followers despite having tested positive – earned him an investigation in the Senate, which recommended that he be charged with crimes against humanity. He also cost him the resignation of several health ministers who left the portfolio due to differences with the president.
His way of talking about the health crisis sometimes acquired tragicomic traits, for example by labeling the Covid-19 disease as a “flu” or by defending hydroxychloroquine treatments tooth and nail, even after evidence had accumulated that it was not They were used to fight infection. Added to this was his rejection of vaccines, which resulted in a slow start to the immunization campaign in the country.
Another peculiarity of the pandemic in Brazil is that, instead of having large epidemic peaks, at the beginning of the crisis it maintained high levels of infections for a sustained period. That is one of the reasons why the country became a regional “super contagion”, according to a Nature Microbiology study.
“Our analyzes show that during 2020 Brazil transitioned from a viral importer to a viral exporter, with approximately 10 times more export events than previously believed. In addition, Brazil became a viral exporter while variants of concern were detected. and under monitoring,” says the study. Most of these export events went to its neighboring countries in South America.
Bolsonaro’s refusal to build public policies based on scientific evidence, not only around the pandemic but also in the environment, earned him a harsh editorial published in the magazine ‘Nature‘ on October 25: “His mandate has been disastrous for science, for the environment, for the Brazilian people and the world,” reads the publication.
“Investment in innovation and science was already in decline when Bolsonaro came to government and has continued to decline under his leadership, to the point that many universities have difficulty keeping the lights on and the buildings open,” continues ‘Nature’.
“No political leader comes close to perfection, but the last four years in Brazil are a reminder of what happens when the people we elect dismantle institutions designed to reduce poverty, protect public health, advance science and knowledge, safeguard the environment and defend Justice and the integrity of the evidence”, he concludes.
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