RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday referred to those who advocate social isolation to fight the spread of the coronavirus as “idiots,” despite the fact that the measure is considered by experts to be one of the main weapons to contain Covid-19.
“There are some idiots out there advocating social isolation to this day. If farmers had stayed at home, they would have starved to death,” said Bolsonaro to supporters outside the Alvorada Palace, when thanking the support received over the weekend from farmers and agribusiness representatives who participated in an event in Brasilia.
Since the start of the pandemic, the president has attacked measures adopted by governors and mayors based on scientific recommendations to restrict the flow and crowding of people as a means to reduce coronavirus transmission.
Speaking at the event in his honor on Saturday, which caused crowds, Bolsonaro said that “we are not going to solve this pandemic problem” by hiding under the bed at home.
Earlier this month, Bolsonaro threatened to issue a decree to “guarantee the right to come and go” and challenged the Federal Supreme Court (STF) at the time by saying that if the text were published it would not be contested in “any court.”
Brazil has the second highest number of deaths from the disease in the world, below only the United States, and the third highest count of confirmed coronavirus cases, behind the U.S. and India.
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health reported 1,036 new deaths from Covid-19, bringing the total number of deaths from the disease to 435,751. The total number of infections in the country has reached 15,627,475.