51 Percent Approve of Federal Government Efforts While 67 Percent Support Isolation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The performance of the Bolsonaro government in the fight against the novel coronavirus is approved by 51 percent of Brazilians interviewed in the National Transport Confederation (CNT) opinion poll, released on Tuesday, May 12th. Another 42.3 percent disapprove of the measures adopted by the Executive and six percent did not answer.

On the other hand, state governors’ performance with respect to the measures against Covid-19 is approved by 69.2 percent, against 26.8 percent who disagree with the measures at State level. Four percent of respondents were unable to answer.

The adoption of social isolation measures, which have been the target of disputes between the President and governors of several states, is considered by 67.3 percent as a practice that should be embraced by everyone. Another 29.3 percent believe that quarantine should only be implemented by people in the risk group and 2.6 percent reject any social isolation measures.

The survey interviewed 2,002 people over the phone between May 7th and 10th. The error margin is 2.2 percentage points plus or minus.

General assessments

Since the last CNT survey in January, the federal government’s overall negative assessment has increased by 12 percentage points from 31 to 43 percent. Pessimism has also grown among respondents with regard to the future of employment, income and health in Brazil.

Regarding employment expectations for the next six months, influenced by the pandemic, the prospect of an improvement in the situation dropped from 43.2 to 15.1 percent between January and May. The assessment that it will worsen hiked from 18.9 to 68.1 percent.

The same pattern is repeated in questions on the monthly income situation of respondents for the next six months: those who believe it will increase dropped from 34.3 to 8.8 percent, while those who say it will decrease rose from 11 to 46.7 percent.

The positive outlook for health in the next six months dropped from 30.5 to 23.3 percent, while the perception that it will worsen rose from 24.8 to 52.3 percent.

Meanwhile, following the resignation of ex-Minister of Justice Sérgio Moro, the fight against corruption in Brazil is expected to worsen for 39.7 percent of respondents, while 12 percent believe it will improve, 39.9 percent believe it will remain the same and 8.4 percent did not answer.

Source: Exame