Brazil Covid crisis: fury after Bolsonaro says people will soon lead 'normal lives'
Source: Guardian
Screams of ‘murderer’ and ‘liar’ in major cities as president makes televised address to the nation on deadliest day yet
Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Tue 23 Mar 2021 21.37 EDT
Loud protests have erupted across Brazil as the country’s Covid-sceptic president, Jair Bolsonaro, struggled to defend his handling of the pandemic and claimed citizens would soon be able to resume their “normal lives” despite the soaring death toll.
Bolsonaro, whose anti-science response to coronavirus has drawn international condemnation, made a televised address to the country on Tuesday night, as Brazil suffered by far its heaviest day of losses since the outbreak began last February.
According to a coalition of Brazilian news groups, which has been keeping a tally since Bolsonaro’s administration was accused of trying to suppress such information last year, a record 3,158 deaths were registered on Tuesday, as well as 84,996 new infections. Brazil’s official death toll – already the world’s second highest after the US – rose to 298,843 and was likely to exceed 300,000 on Wednesday. About a third of the global total of fatalities were recorded in Brazil on Tuesday.
“What I see before me is a country that attaches no value to the lives of its citizens,” the scientist and broadcaster Átila Iamarino said of his government’s response.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/24/anger-in-brazil-as-bolsonaro-claims-citizens-will-soon-lead-normal-lives-as-deaths-soar-coronavirus
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