Brazil’s Health Minister Resigns after One Month on the Job
HAVANA TIMES – Brazil’s Health Minister Nelson Teich resigned on Friday after less than one month on the job, his ministry told dpa, while Covid-19 infections continue to soar in the country, reported dpa news.
The minister had resisted President Jair Bolsonaro’s insistence on the use of of Malaria medicine hydroxychloroquine as a treatment.
He also disagreed with the president’s push to increasingly open up the economy, including his decision to allow beauty salons, barber shops and sports academies to open their doors.
Teich’s predecessor Luiz Henrique Mandetta stepped down over similar disagreements with Bolsonaro.
Covid-19 infections have kept going up in the country of more than
200 million residents. Brazil has now confirmed about 260,000 novel coronavirus cases and 14,000 deaths.
That makes Brazil the country with the sixth-largest number of infections and deaths in the world.
Bolsonaro probably got a cable from Donald Trump giving him advice on combating COVID-19. The promotion of hydroxychloroquine is indicative of the mutual admiration which they share. Maybe Bolsonaro envy’s the US in being Number One in the world – the statistics on Covid prove that.