On 8 August, the death toll from the coronavirus (Covid-19) in Brazil passed 100,000, while the number of confirmed cases topped 3m, according to official figures.
Analysis:
Brazil is the second country in the world to reach this mark, after the US. Pre-empting this grim milestone during his weekly Facebook Live on 6 August, President Jair Bolsonaro had said, “we will reach 100,000 [deaths], but we’ll get on with life and do away with this problem”. This encapsulates Bolsonaro’s cavalier attitude towards the coronavirus, an attitude which has informed the federal government’s chaotic response to the pandemic, and which many hold directly responsible for the severity of the uncontrolled coronavirus epidemic in Brazil.
- With numbers recorded yesterday (9 August), confirmed cases now top 3.035m, while fatalities have reached 101,049 according to the federal health ministry – which has been led by an interim minister with no previous experience in public health since 15 May.
- Congress and the supreme court (STF) declared official mourning of four and three days, respectively, while national papers marked the tragic milestone with front pages paying tribute to the dead.
- Bolsonaro did not comment on the number of fatalities until yesterday, when he posted a thread on Twitter in which he said “we lament every death, whatever the cause”, suggesting that there have been two deaths due to lockdown measures for every three Covid-19 fatalities, and evoking the deaths of three police officers in a shootout in São Paulo state.
- Bolsonaro also condemned the media, notably TV Globo (although he didn’t name the channel), for “spreading panic”. TV Globo had overtly criticised Bolsonaro during its prime time evening news programme on 8 August.
Looking Ahead: Although Bolsonaro has been fiercely criticised for his response to the pandemic, polls show that public opinion has not shifted much in recent weeks and his support remains steady. This seems to reinforce the view of scientists and health experts who worry that the pandemic has become normalised in the country, making it harder to encourage and enforce containment measures which should help slow the spread of the virus.