COVID-19 in Brazil

The story of COVID-19 in Brazil is the story of a president who insists the pandemic is no big deal. Jair Bolsonaro condemned COVID-19 quarantine, saying shutdowns would wreck the economy and punish the poor.

He scoffed at the “little flu,” then trumpeted the fatalistic claim nothing could stop 70% of Brazilians from falling ill. And he refused to take responsibility when many did. He poured money into the economy to ease the pain of the pandemic.

But while Bolsonaro could have inspired people to hunker down, he instead encouraged them to flout local restrictions.

Deaths from the coronavirus hit some cities so hard that officials were unprepared for the crush of bodies even though regional governments imposed measures aimed at halting the spread of the virus. Brazil passed 200,000 deaths according to data released by Brazil’s health ministry. It has the world’s second highest death toll, behind the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University’s database.

And more

Commuters, some wearing protective face masks, ride a bus amid the new coronavirus pandemic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, June 25, 2020. Authorities say buses can operate with people standing, but limited to 2 commuters per meter square, and marks on the floor will have to be painted in order to help people to keep their distance. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - A patient, who died from the new coronavirus, lies on a table between other COVID-19 patients in a room at the Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Sunday, May 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Cemetery worker Bruno Avelino walks among graves as he waits for the arrival of a coffin that contains the remains of one-year-old Vitoria Gabrielle, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, May 8, 2020. According to her mother, Vitoria died from the new coronavirus, infected in the health unit where she was being hospitalized for a gastrointestinal problem. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A homeless person sleeps under a highway near the Sambadrome, which is being equipped to shelter the homeless, as residents stay home in an attempt to contain the spread of the new coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, March 30, 2020. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Residents, some wearing masks due to COVID-19, look at the bodies of people on the sidewalk who died during an armed confrontation, after the bodies were brought from inside the Alemao slum complex to one of slum's entrances in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, May 15, 2020. According to the civil police, 10 people were found dead during a police operation against alleged drug traffickers. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A demonstrator shouts slogans during a protest in support of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, June 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Andrea de Sousa, left, is embraced by her partner during the burial of her one-year-old daughter Vitoria Gabrielle, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, May 8, 2020. According to Sousa, her daughter died from the new coronavirus, infected in the health unit where she was being hospitalized for a gastrointestinal problem. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Thiago Firmino and other volunteers spray disinfectant in an alley to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus, at the Santa Marta slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, April 10, 2020. Firmino, who works as a tourist guide in the favela, helped organize a group to buy sanitization equipment with donated funds and are now disinfecting the alleyways of the favela. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A coronavirus patient receives a treatment in an intensive care unit at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital in Marica, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. The construction of the hospital, that was stopped in 2019, was retaken due to the pandemic and opened at the beginning of May, only to treat patients infected by the COVID-19. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A cemetery worker places the coffin containing the remains of the 86-year-old Jorge Costa Pires, who died from the new coronavirus, in his grave, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. For the son Jorge Pires, the problem is that the government didn't give proper attention for this pandemic. "People are dying more than it should be", completes Pires. Authorities have started to reopen gradually some businesses and easing some protective measures in Rio, one of the worst cities affected by the COVID-19. (Photo/Leo Correa)

Wearing protective face masks, clergy line up at the start of a Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, July 4, 2020. Following an easing of restrictions related to COVID-19, the Catholic church in Rio celebrated its first Mass with 30% of its worshippers, while observing preventive measures to avoid spreading the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Jesus Costa and Antonio Ancon, right, stand on Copacabana beach amid the outbreak of the new coronavirus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, July 12, 2020. "I prefer to have tan lines on the face than to put my life at risk" says Ancon about the use of the face masks at the beach as a measure to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Backdropped by the Christ The Redeemer statue, the street artist Maico Brum prays on his knees before performing at a traffic light in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, April 4, 2020. After the local authorities declared quarantine to avoid the spread of the Covid-19, the 40-year-old clown, better known as Little Clown Break, has spent more time on the streets to earn, at least, 15 USD per day, to pay for food and a room to sleep. "I'm afraid of being hungry and to have no place to sleep. This (new) coronavirus is the least of the problems to me", he added. (Photo Leo Correa)

Carlos Augusto Telles Guerra shows where he keeps his employment booklet as he waits outside a federal revenue office in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, April 16, 2020. Most people began lining up before dawn outside the office which doesn't open until 9 am, in hopes of fixing their taxpayer registration number which will allow them to receive emergency aid allotted by the federal government for the most vulnerable persons amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Volunteer Welington Goncalves, center, takes a break from sanitization duties to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus in an area occupied by squatters in a poor region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 26, 2020. For the 21-year-old volunteer, who lives in this occupation, the sanitization is a way to avoid the COVID-19 and if it was not for him and other volunteers working on it, "the situation would be worse". (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Residents, some wearing masks due to COVID-19, carry bodies after an armed confrontation in the Alemao slums complex in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, May 15, 2020. According to the civil police, 10 people were found dead during the police operation against alleged drug traffickers. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Homes are lit at the dusk amid the new coronavirus pandemic at the Alemao complex slums in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, May 4, 2020. Reduced airflow around homes that are built too close one to the other, lack of proper sewage and precarious public services become some of health authorities concerns regarding the COVID-19 that could easily spread in the favelas. (Photo Leo Correa)

Isael Reis de Jesus looks as his cellphone while resting inside his car parked near the federal revenue office, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, April 16, 2020. Most people begin lining up before dawn outside the office which doesn't open until 9 am, in hopes of fixing their taxpayer registration number which will allow them to receive emergency aid allotted by the federal government for the most vulnerable persons amid the new coronavirus pandemic. "This is humiliating", says the 65-year-old informal worker, who hopes to use the money to buy food. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Backdropped by the Christ the Redeemer statue, cemetery workers place a coffin containing the remains of the 86-year-old Jorge Costa Pires, who died from the new coronavirus, over his grave, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. For the son Jorge Pires, the problem is that the government didn't give proper attention for this pandemic. "People are dying more than it should be", completes Pires. Authorities have started to reopen gradually some businesses and easing some protective measures in Rio, one of the worst cities affected by the COVID-19. (Photo/Leo Correa)

A volunteer sprays disinfectant in a street to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus at the Babilonia slum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, July 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A cemetery worker stands before the coffin containing the remains of Edenir Rezende Bessa, who is suspected to have died of COVID-19, as relatives attend her burial, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. After visiting 3 primary care health units she was accepted in a hospital that treats new coronavirus cases, where she died on Tuesday. “People need to believe that this is serious, it kills", said her son Rodrigo Bessa who works at a hospital as nurse in the Espirito Santo state. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A volunteer sprays disinfectant in an alleyway to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus in an area occupied by squatters in a poor region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 26, 2020. In this occupation, known in Portuguese as, "United We Will Win", about 200 families live in precarious conditions, with no proper sewage, where shacks are packed tightly together and the people have to share three communal bathrooms and a kitchen. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Roses lay atop the coffin containing the remains of Edenir Rezende Bessa, who is suspected to have died of COVID-19, during her burial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. After visiting 3 primary care health units she was accepted in a hospital that treats new coronavirus cases. "People need to believe that this is serious, it kills", said her son Rodrigo Bessa. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A nurse talks to a COVID-19 patient at the Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara hospital, that exclusively treats new coronavirus cases, in Marica, Brazil, Thursday, May 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A cross with the date 22-4-20 marks the burial site of Edenir Rezende Bessa, who is suspected to have died of COVID-19, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, April 22, 2020. After visiting 3 primary care health units she was accepted in a hospital that treats new coronavirus cases, where she died on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)