Bolsonaro to Call on Health Minister Mandetta to Isolate Only the Elderly and Sick

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said he will call on the Ministry of Health to change its strategy of isolating the population during the new coronavirus pandemic.

Upon leaving the Alvorada Palace on Wednesday, Bolsonaro said he would discuss the decision with Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta.

After making a statement criticizing confinement and advocating the opening of businesses and schools, the head of the country called for the adoption of what he termed “vertical isolation,” that is, only for the elderly and people with comorbidities (other health conditions that weaken the immune response).

“I spoke with Mandetta yesterday (Tuesday). Today we will define this situation. It has to be done, there is no other alternative,” said Bolsonaro as he left the Alvorada Palace.

“The guidance will be vertical from here on out. I will talk to him and make the decision. Don’t write down that I’ve already decided, I haven’t. I’ll talk to Mandetta about this direction.”

In his speech, the president called into question the quarantine imposed by states due to the coronavirus and advocated the country’s return to “normality,” ignoring specific expert recommendations on the need for social isolation so as not to overload hospitals.

The President (no party affiliation, formerly PSL) also stated that “a few governors” – specifically referring to São Paulo’s João Doria (PSDB) and Rio de Janeiro’s Wilson Witzel (PSC) – are committing “a crime” and “killing Brazil”.

“What needs to be done? Put these people to work, preserve the elderly, preserve those who have health issues, nothing more than that. Otherwise, what happened in Chile will be close to what can happen in Brazil,” he said.

“We will all pay a price that will take years to be paid if Brazil can’t yet emerge from the democratic normality that you so much champion. Nobody knows what can happen in Brazil,” the President said, mentioning the potential for looting in supermarkets.

He also accused Doria and Witzel, with whom he met in the morning in a videoconference with the other governors of the Southeast Region, of being dogmatic about the coronavirus pandemic.

Critics

The nationally broadcast speech was widely criticized by politicians, including the leaders of the National Congress.

Senate President Davi Alcolumbre (DEM-AP) said in a statement that the speech was critical. He called for a “serious, responsible and committed leadership for the life and health of its population”.

The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Rodrigo Maia (DEM-RJ), considered the President’s position to be “wrong”. He criticized the fact that Bolsonaro used the broadcast structure to attack the press, state governors and public health experts.

The governor of Maranhão, Flávio Dino (PCdoB), cited by many as a likely candidate in the 2022 presidential elections, said the statement “shows that there is little hope” that the President “will be able to exercise the Presidency of the Republic responsibly and efficiently”.

“The damage is unpredictable and very serious,” he criticized. Dino added that he will continue to take “all preventative measures and care in relation to the coronavirus” in Maranhão.

The governor of Espírito Santo, Renato Casagrande (PSB), stated that Bolsonaro is “disconnected from the advice of the world’s scientists and the actions of the Ministry of Health”.

Casagrande said that the president is “confusing society, hindering work in states and municipalities, underestimating the effects of the pandemic”. “It proves that we are lacking direction,” he said.

The leader of the PSL party in the Chamber of Deputies and former government leader in Congress, Joice Hasselmann (PSL-SP), called the President “irresponsible, inconsequential and insensitive” and that he “makes mistakes and is proud of his stupid mistake”.

Source: Exame