The Manual on Viruses

Still at the beginning of the Coronacrisis, while the virus was spreading widely
in Europe and many hospitals were overburdened, while infection rates in
Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Peru, were rising exponentially,
Jair Bolsonaro, the current president of Brazil, tried to play down
the situation.
“If I get infected with the virus, all I get is a ‘gripezinha’
(small flu) or a ‘resfriadinho’ (small cold),” the
president said,
while thousands of Brazilians protested in more than a dozen cities, requiring
to take the necessary measures to fight the virus. The protests against
President Bolsonaro became even stronger when he fired his health minister,
Mandetta, who advocated strict exit restrictions, while Bolzonaro found it
absolutely unnecessary. That proved that those who do not support Bolsonaro’s
opinion will be fired directly. This gesture denied the freedom of opinion
that is at the base of a democratic country in favor to a more dictatorship
goverment.
In the Rocinha favela in Rio, the lockdown with curfews worked because the
drug gang took matters into their own hands. “Anyone who leaves the house
will get a bullet in the head,” the gang threatened, as one resident described.
The threats worked. As well as in other cities around Brazil, they took their
own measures and opted for voluntary curfews, because they wouldn't be
able to keep up with high infection rates. Now Brazil is also facing collapse
- the city of Manaus is suffering in particular. Bolsonaro instead still sticks
to his opinion. Financial aid from the state is either not forthcoming or is
hardly ever forthcoming. Shops and shopping centers continue to open as
the country heads for the peak of the pandemic.
110 // PANDEMIC / CORONAVIRUS: A VIRUS IN MODERN TIMES