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Eugene

(61,872 posts)
Mon Apr 6, 2020, 10:29 PM Apr 2020

Brazil's health minister holds job in clash with Bolsonaro

Source: Reuters

WORLD NEWS APRIL 6, 2020 / 7:23 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Brazil's health minister holds job in clash with Bolsonaro

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said on Monday he will continue in his post after overcoming a disagreement with President Jair Bolsonaro over the need for social distancing to stop the spread of coronavirus.

“A doctor does not abandon his patient. We will continue,” he said at a news conference at the end of a day of speculation over whether Bolsonaro would fire him in the midst of an escalating public health crisis.

“The government is taking a new position and it will be more focused” on the epidemic, Mandetta said, confirming he had won an arm-wrestle with the president over the need for isolation.

Mandetta, a doctor by training, has openly contradicted the far-right president who has minimized the danger of the epidemic and opposed lockdowns that are stalling the economy.

-snip-


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-brazil-minister/brazils-health-minister-holds-job-in-clash-with-bolsonaro-idUSKBN21O342
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