Covid-19 in Brazil: Bolsonaro calls for masks to be dropped despite 2,000 daily deaths
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro delivered a speech against barrier gestures and the wearing of masks on June 10, 2021 in Brasilia.
© REUTERS / Adriano Machado
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro persists in his anti-mask speech: while the country has more than 2,000 deaths a day linked to Covid-19 and that vaccination is still progressing very slowly, the Brazilian president has again castigated the obligation to wear a mask, Thursday, June 10.
According to him, this health measure would no longer be necessary, causing an outcry among nursing staff and experts.
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During his speech Thursday, June 11 in Brasilia, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro returned to the charge against barrier gestures,
one of his favorite subjects
.
This time, he asks for the lifting of the obligation to wear a mask when you are vaccinated or when you are cured of Covid-19.
His remarks were greeted with applause
by supporters of the president
, but medical staff are standing firm. An infectious disease specialist denounces
in the magazine
Carta Capital
a "
speech of death
", hammering that removing the mask would be a serious threat to public health. According to him, the country is experiencing the peak of the pandemic and intensive care units remain "
saturated in most capitals
".
The governor of the state of Piauí, Wellington Dias,
accuses the president
of "
adding fuel to the fire
" with his remarks.
Other governors like him will continue to demand the wearing of masks, he said.
And indeed, according to a 2020 Supreme Court judgment, it is up to the local authorities to put in place the health measures they deem necessary.
The Minister of Health is also low profile: "
We are going to study the president's request
," he commented soberly.
So far, only 11% of the Brazilian population is fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
►
To read also: Covid-19: in Brazil, the demonstrators judge Bolsonaro "more dangerous than the virus"
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