Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after clashing with him over how to fight the new coronavirus, and again called for states to end stay-at-home orders that he said were hurting the economy.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro walks after a media statement to announces the new Minister of Health, Nelson Teich, amid coronavirus disease outbreak, in Brasilia, Brazil, April 16, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
“We need to return to normal, not as fast as possible, but we need to start having some flexibility,” Bolsonaro said. The government cannot afford emergency aid to the poor for much longer, he said. But while there are signs that the outbreak has peaked in the United States, medical experts agree that a peak in Brazil is still weeks away and it is too early to end social distancing.
Incoming minister Nelson Teich, asked at a news conference about the ministry’s position now that he was in charge, said there will not be any “sudden changes” in policy.Teich, who founded an oncology group sold to United Healthcare in 2015, lacks the political experience of his predecessor, a former lawmaker who had begun to upstage Bolsonaro.
The Health Ministry’s response to the epidemic was rated “good” or “great” by 76% of Brazilians surveyed by pollster Datafolha. Just 33% of those surveyed gave Bolsonaro the same ratings.Senator Major Olimpio, Bolsonaro’s former right-hand man in Congress, praised Mandetta for sticking to scientific principles in the public health crisis and urged the new minister to defend the need for isolation measures.
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