President Jair Bolsonaro announced yesterday he was launching a crisis committee to fight a Covid-19 surge ravaging Brazil, a change of course amid mounting pressure over a situation he has repeatedly minimised. Speaking a day after Brazil registered a new record daily toll in the pandemic – surpassing 3,000 deaths for the first time – the far-right president told reporters he was committed to saving lives.
The comments came after a meeting with a list of political power players, including the heads of both houses of Congress, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the central bank chief, most of his cabinet and six governors. “The prevailing sentiment was solidarity and the commitment to minimise the effects of the pandemic,” Bolsonaro said at the presidential palace. “Life comes first.”
He said the group had agreed to create a co-ordinating council with Brazil’s 27 governors, led by Senate speaker Rodrigo Pacheco. He himself will convene a crisis committee that will meet weekly, he said. The announcements appeared to do little to tame criticism of Bolsonaro, who has flouted expert advice on lockdowns and face masks, pushed a drug regimen he calls the “early treatment” package that scientists say does not work, and spoken out against vaccines.
Newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo accused the president of lying when he said his government had worked ceaselessly to fight the virus. “For 12 months, Bolsonaro minimised the pandemic, promoted crowds, spoke out against mask use and halted talks to secure vaccines,” it said. Bolsonaro has softened his position on vaccines under pressure, saying Wednesday’s meeting had “unanimously agreed” on the need for mass vaccination. However, he was apparently unable to resist his habitual plug for “early treatment” with hydroxychloroquine and other drugs discarded as ineffective against Covid-19 in a raft of studies. “We also spoke about the possibility of the early treatment regimen,” he said.
“That comes under the health ministry, which respects the right and duty of all doctors to treat their patients, including with off-label drug prescriptions.” Brazil is set to surpass 300,000 deaths from Covid-19 Wednesday, second only to the United States. The latest surge has pushed many hospitals to the breaking point, with intensive care beds and oxygen supplies at critically low levels.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro speaks after a meeting with the heads of National Congress, the Supreme Court and governors, in Brasilia, Brazil, yesterday.
