Brazil President fires Health Minister over COVID-19 response

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has appointed an oncologist Nelson Teich as the country's new Health Minister after firing  Luiz Henrique Mandetta on April 16 amid tensions over Brazil’s response to coronavirus outbreak. The announcement was an already suspected move by Mandetta, who had previously cautioned his department that Bolsonaro would dismiss him because of their growing disagreements.

While Brazilian President continued to downplay the severity of COVID-19 outbreak, Mandetta had been encouraging social distancing and supporting the governors for imposing lockdowns. Brazilian Health Minister tweeted about receiving his resignation from the Brazilian President’s office and further thanked for the opportunity for having a position in the government.

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Brazilian Health secretary resigns

This comes after Health Secretary Wanderson de Oliveira resigned on April 15, after Mandetta reportedly had said that he was likely to be fired by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro this week due to difference of opinion over country’s response to COVID-19 disease. Meanwhile, even though experts believe that Brazil has a higher number of actual infections, as of April 17, it has reported at least 30,891 coronavirus cases with 1,952 fatalities. 

According to international media reports, in a news conference, Mandetta had previously noted his differences with Bolsonaro and informed that he had initiated the discussions with the government to search for his replacement. The political downfall in Brazil came when the global infections have reached over two million and there’s not a single proven vaccine to the disease. 

After originating from China’s “wet markets”, the coronavirus has now claimed 146,855 lives worldwide as of April 16. According to the tally by international news agency, the pandemic has now spread to 210 countries and has infected at least 2,183,581 people. Out of the total infections, 552,735 have been recovered but the easily spread virus is continuing to disrupt many lives. Major cities have been put under lockdown in almost all countries and the economy is struggling. 

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Image Source: AP