RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on February 19th that the covid-19 pandemic is still a “big problem” in the country. Without naming names, the chief executive also said that the “mask is off” of those who made political use of the novel coronavirus.
“We have mishaps, we have problems, as we still have the big pandemic problem, among others,” he said in a federal government event in Sertânia (PE) related to the São Francisco River transposition works. “Those who wanted to politicize the virus issue, the mask is off and the people are realizing who really had courage, insight, and great concern in dealing with an issue like this (pandemic),” he said.
Throughout the health crisis, the president’s statements were marked by clashes with governors and mayors who implemented restrictive measures to prevent the spread of the disease. The main target of criticism was São Paulo governor João Doria. Today, Bolsonaro again criticized measures to close trade by mentioning its impact on employment.
“That policy of ‘stay home, close trade,’ with an immediate consequence of destroying millions of jobs, this must be changed,” he declared. “I always said that we had two problems back there, the virus and unemployment, we should address both responsibly and simultaneously.”
Yesterday, the country reached the mark of over 10 million covid-19 infections since the start of the pandemic. Bolsonaro did not comment on the mark during his weekly live stream yesterday nor today. The cumulative number of deaths from the disease now exceeds 243,000 but the President takes no notice of this.