Four days after Brazil’s Health Minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, appeared on a televised interview calling for government to have a unified stance on the pandemic, he was fired from his post.
President Jair Bolsonaro has continuously disregarded COVID-19 as “a little flu”, while Mr. Mandetta urged citizens to practice social distancing and to stay indoors. The President has also made a point to follow his own advice, by visiting supermarkets and shaking hands with people.
Via “his official Twitter account on Thursday, Mandetta tweeted: “I thank the entire team that was with me at the Ministry of Health, and I wish my successor success as the Minister of Health. I pray God and Our Lady of Aparecida to bless our country.”
Mr. Mandetta will be replaced by oncologist Nelson Teich, a man who supported Bolsonaro’s presidential campaign.
According to figures from the Johns Hopkins University, 1,764 people have died from the virus in Brazil. The country currently has 29,165 confirmed cases.