Brazil's Bolsonaro defends govt's move to withhold data on second-largest COVID outbreak

Brazillian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday has defended his government’s decision to withhold crucial data about the country’s coronavirus outbreak. According to reports, on June 5 the government took down a website that showed how the coronavirus pandemic had spread across Brazil over time. The Health Ministry had also stopped reporting the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which have shot past 645,000.

Brazil government withholds vital data

Brazil currently has the second-highest number of reported coronavirus cases in the world, just behind the United States. Neither the Brazilian health ministry nor the Brazilian President has given a valid reason why the data was removed/withheld. Bolsonaro took to Twitter recently said that the cumulative data of the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil was not a representation of the ‘Moment’ Brazil was in. He also added that his government was taking other actions that would in the future improve the reporting of cases.

According to reports, the Brazilian government has also been subjected to heavy criticism for publishing the tally of new coronavirus cases and deaths later than usual. Earlier the numbers were posted at 5 pm (local time) but now the numbers are given at 10 pm.

Read: Police Disperse Anti-Bolsonaro Protesters In Brazil

Read: Bolsonaro's Residence Boycotted By Media Outlets Due To Attacks On Journalists

Bolsonaro considers exiting WHO

As the new record of COVID-19 fatalities pushed Brazil's death toll past that of Italy on Thursday, President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to pull out of the World Health Organization, unless it stops being a “partisan political organisation.”

Bolsonaro's comments came as COVID-19 cases in Brazil climbed past 600,000 and 1,437 deaths were registered on Thursday. With the death toll surpassing the 35,000 mark, the pandemic has killed more people in Brazil than in any country outside the United States and the United Kingdom.

Read: In Bolsonaro's Brazil, Everyone Else Is To Blame For Virus

Read: Brazil: Bolsonaro Considers Exiting 'partisan Political' WHO As COVID Deaths Cross 35,000

An editorial from a Brazilian daily noted that just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro described the virus that is “killing a Brazilian per minute” as a “little flu.” “While you were reading this, another Brazilian died from the coronavirus,” the newspaper quoted Jair Bolsonaro.

(Image credit: AP)