Lula on Coronavirus: ‘First We Save the People, Then the Economy’

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Former President Lula demanded federal government actions to control the coronavirus epidemic. On a Facebook live stream last night, Lula demanded clarification on what Jair Bolsonaro’s investments will be in the midst of the public health crisis.

According to him, the government must “explain how much it is going to buy and how many beds, how much it is going to invest in hospitals, how many doctors it is going to hire, in other words, how it is going to prevent the coronavirus from becoming something very severe”.

Lula defined as “pathetic” the press conference that Bolsonaro held on Friday to discuss the containment of the Covid-19 in Brazil. “The government was not worried about guiding the population, it was worried about getting rid of the negative image it allowed itself to create from so much nonsense that they said over the past week,” he said.

The politician further said the current priority must be the lives of vulnerable people. “After we save the people, we will discuss how to save the economy, how to make the country grow again, how to generate employment, how to distribute income,” he said.

Speaking about the economy, he demanded that the government provide the means to ensure that people who are kept out of work for fear of contracting the coronavirus are not fired. In addition, he suggested that the self-employed and App workers also be provided with some form of insurance during their time at home.

Despite criticism of the federal government, there was some praise for the press efforts. “Everyone knows that I am very critical of the press, but I have to acknowledge that if there is a service that has provided information 24 hours a day to the Brazilian people, it has been the press”.

Lula also often emphasized that people need to stay at home, in preventive isolation and with hygiene practices like washing their hands to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.