Winter of discontent, hasty reopenings keep Brazilians on edge
NEW DELHI: Two days after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for Covid-19, he said the looming economic crisis is worse than the virus itself, and yet again urged mayors and governors to reopen their states.
But many people across the Brazilian heartland suspect the reopening of the country, amid the onset of the winter, could further fan the spread of the deadly respiratory disease.
In fact, a lot of people in the country believe the federal government should be heeding the World Health Organization’s (WHO) warnings instead of rushing to lift restrictions.
Leticia Kawano Dourado, a respiratory physician at Sao Paulo’s Hospital do Coracao, is one of them.
“There is a false dichotomy between the economy and health,” Dourado told HT. “Many cities in the country have now reopened without fulfilling WHO criteria.”
Brazil has so far reported at least 1.8 million Covid-19 cases and over 70,300 deaths. Sao Paulo is among the badly affected places, alongside Rio de Janeiro and worst-hit Brasilia, the capital city.
Apart from the spectre of hurried reopenings, the winter in South America has Brazilian health officials as well as the public worried. Winter “fuels respiratory infections like seasonal influenza and pneumonia - that can rapidly spread in colder climates,” warned WHO Americas director Carissa Etienne.
“Winter is a cause for concern because people spend more time in closed spaces. Plus, the cold weather also brings other viruses,” Elnara Marcia Negri, a pulmonologist at Hospital Sirio-Libanes in Sao Paulo, told this daily.
Brazil clearly faces a winter of discontent as a potential spike in seasonal flu could overwhelm hospitals that are already brimming with Covid-19 patients.
Much of the spotlight is also on the capital Brasilia, which is now seeing an explosion of Covid-19 infections. It has more cases per capita than any other major city in the country, with 2,133 confirmed cases per 100,000 people, according to Brazilian health ministry statistics.
“They’re reopening everything without a clear plan, saying that getting sick is inevitable,” says Brasilia resident Ana Lustosa da Costa. With two of her nephews testing positive, Ana Lustosa is worried about her elderly parents who are in the risk group.