That Brazil saw warning signs would be a dramatic understatement.
As Covid-19 raced across Europe, knocked the UK Prime Minister flat, and throttled New York City earlier this year, Brazil had plenty of notice that a catastrophe was on its way.
But was some of the danger drowned out by the megaphone of its bombastic President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly dismissed the virus as a “little flu”?
Brazil has now claimed the grim title of most Covid-19 cases globally after the US. More than 25,000 people in Brazil have died, and some experts say the toll could quintuple by August. Hospitals and graveyards alike are being stretched to their limits.
Around the world, citizens are asking their governments how local outbreaks spiraled out of control. But in Brazil, where the acting health minister is a military general with no health background, and the President personally attends anti-lockdown rallies, it’s not clear who in the federal government might even deign to answer the question.
“What do you want me to do?” Bolsonaro asked reporters last month. “I’m not a miracle worker.”
