In the middle of a coronavirus pandemic, despite the security measures taken by the government, the Brazilian president offered himself a crowd bath, Sunday, March 29 in the streets of the Brazilian capital. Without a mask, meeting locals and merchants, Jair Bolsonaro once again minimized the risks associated with coronavirus and encouraged people to continue working: "What I was able to discuss with people, is that they want to work, he assured during a meeting with a street merchant. What I have said from the start is: let's be careful, the over 65s stay at home . "

According to the Brazilian president, the virus would do more harm to the wallet than to the health of the country. He considers that, despite the epidemic, "Brazil cannot stop". "This confinement, if it continues like this, with brutal unemployment, we will have a serious problem, it will take years to resolve it," said the Brazilian head of state to a crowd of locals and journalists. The filmed exchanges, calling into question the confinement, were then published on the president's Twitter account, before being deleted by the social network.

Since the health crisis, the Brazilian president, who describes the coronavirus as "little flu", seems not to take the situation seriously. On March 9, when Italy began its containment, it declared: "There is also the problem of the coronavirus whose destructive power is, in my opinion, overestimated."

"Brazil cannot stop"

In mid-March, despite the recommendations of his Ministry of Health not to expose himself, Jair Bolsonaro decided to go and shake the hands of his supporters gathered in Brasilia. The Brazilian president also engaged in a showdown against the vast majority of the country's 26 governors. The latter banned non-essential commercial activities and public services in order to stem the pandemic. On March 24, he declared: "The authorities of certain states and municipalities must renounce the concept of scorched earth, the prohibition of transport, the closing of shops and mass containment." The next day, Joao Doria, the governor of Sao Paulo, replied: "Mr. President, as you said, respectfully, this is not a small flu, it is not a small cold, this is serious."

>> Read also: In Brazil, the fight against the spread of coronavirus is akin to a class struggle

On Saturday March 28, a Brazilian federal court banned the Bolsonaro government from running a campaign called "Brazil can't stop". A video considered to go against local containment measures to curb the spread of the Covid-19 epidemic. The day before, Brazilian justice had canceled a decree of the president, which excluded churches, religious temples and lottery offices from quarantine measures imposed in certain states.

Faced with the attitude of Jair Bolsonaro, the main personalities of the Brazilian left published Monday, March 30, a manifesto asking the president to resign, deeming him "irresponsible" in the face of the coronavirus pandemic

In Brazil, the disease has already infected more than 4,000 people and left at least 136 dead, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health

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