Brazilian President Condemns Lockdown, Orders Citizens to Return to Work …Says Quarantine is Cowardice

Adeyinka Olaiya, Sao Paulo/

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has shown that he’s not on the same page with governors who want people to stay home to curb the spread of COVID-19 as he charged the citizens to come out and return to work to save the country’s economy.

Unlike Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte who ordered the police and military to kill citizens who defy coronavirus lockdown, Bolsonaro said the paralysis of the nation’s business and social activities would provoke a big damage in the economy if the lockdown persists. He also urged the citizens to ignore WHO’s ideologies and go back to work.

“Coronavírus is as equal as any common fever, fear not,” he said on the national television.

Even with the country recording over 240 deaths with 7000 people who tested positive, the far rightist President has challenged the position of WHO on Covid-19 pandemic. He said that home staying or isolation was not the only answer to reducing the spread of the deadly virus, and that WHO has over exaggerated the pandemic, thus keeping the entire planet in a state of shock for no reasons.

He urged the international press to avoid using the information processes in a wrong manner and cautioned television houses in Brazil to stop politicizing the pandemic as if the world is coming to an end.

He appealed to media practitioners not to use the coronavirus to bring down his government.

He pointed out that Brazil is not “Africa where food is not necessarily important on the table of every family”, as he disagreed with WHO spokesman and President, Dr. Tedros, who used Africa as an example of poverty but agreed on the importance of moving the system ahead.

Bolsonaro called on the Elites to encourage the citizens to go back to work because the climate is changing and the winter is fast approaching and the nation should use it favourably. He promised to cater for the three months monetary expenses of every family by paying emergency social benefits of up to $300 to every family.

He described hunger as the worst virus as he warned that if the nation persists with a total lockdown, hunger would be worse than Covid-19 in the future.

Bolsonaro said that over 40 million Brazilians could end up losing their jobs if the lockdown persists.

“We can work things out going about our works while we also battle the Coronavirus,” he said in an interview with Band Television in Brazil.

Brazil recently introduced Robots as attendants in hospitals to attend to Coronavírus victims.

The President said that the battle against the pandemic was advancing and victory was certain, as he promised to fight against political opportunists using the coronavirus pandemic to boost their political campaigns.

He also promised to send private jets to bring Brazilians stranded in any part of the world back home.

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