Brazil's president, skeptical of coronavirus, fires health minister who pushed for social distancing


Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday fired his health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, after they butted heads on how to tackle the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the epidemic, saying that "life is priceless, but the economy and jobs must return to normal." Mandetta in turn was adamant about how important social distancing guidelines are in curbing the spread of the virus. During his final briefing on Thursday, Mandetta told Brazilians not to "think that we are going to escape a sharp rise in cases of this illness. The health system still isn't ready [for] a rapid increase [in cases]." He also offered encouragement, saying, "Don't be afraid. Science is light ... and it is through science that we will find a way out of this."
Bolsonaro picked Nelson Teich, an oncologist and partner in a medical service consulting firm, to replace Mandetta. When news of Mandetta's firing was made public, protests popped up across the country, The Guardian reports, with demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro shouting, "Bolsonaro murderer!" As of Thursday night, Brazil has had more than 30,425 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 1,924 deaths.
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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