Covid: Bolsonaro tells Brazilians to ‘stop whining’ as deaths spike
President Jair Bolsonaro has told Brazilians to “stop whining” about Covid-19, as he criticised measures to curb the virus despite a surge in cases and deaths. His comments came a day after Brazil saw a record rise in deaths over a 24-hour period. Brazil is facing its worst phase of the pandemic yet, leaving its health system in crisis. In response some cities and states have imposed their own restrictions. Brazil’s health ministry says more than 260,000 people have died with Covid-19, the second-highest pandemic death toll in the world after the US. On Thursday, another 1,699 deaths were added to that tally, a slight decrease on Wednesday’s record 1,910. Meanwhile, a further 75,102 cases of coronavirus were reported, the second-highest daily rise on record.
The explosion of cases has been attributed to the spread of a highly contagious variant of the virus thought to have originated in the Amazon city of Manaus. Yet on Thursday Mr Bolsonaro continued to downplay the threat posed by the virus. “Stop whining. How long are you going to keep crying about it?” Mr Bolsonaro said at an event. “How much longer will you stay at home and close everything? No one can stand it anymore. We regret the deaths, again, but we need a solution.“(BBC)…[+]