Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called for the economy to open up, saying that the closures in non-essential sectors were ““a terrible disgrace” for the country.
Speaking in a Facebook live on Thursday, Bolsonaro said that he wants the economy “to run again.”
“Its been 70 days now that I am saying that we have two problems: life and the virus, of course, but also unemployment,” Bolsonaro said.
“It was a terrible disgrace what they (mayors and governors) did, this way of shutting everything down,” the President added.
Bolsonaro added that he supported “vertical isolation,” in which elderly and vulnerable people like his mother stay home, but allows “young people” to return to work.
Controversial president: Critics have lambasted Bolsonaro’s approach to the pandemic, both within the country and internationally.
Arthur Virgilio Neto, the mayor of a Brazilian city that was badly hit with the virus, called on Bolsonaro to resign.
Brazil has suffered more infections than every country in the world except the United States, and is yet to reach a peak of cases and fatalities, experts warn.
