Brazil’s losing battle against covid-19
The country entered the pandemic with some advantages. Because of Jair Bolsonaro it is squandering them
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ON MAY 18TH Bruno Covas, the mayor of São Paulo, Brazil’s biggest city, announced an unscheduled five-day holiday to discourage people from going out. The residents of Paraisópolis, a favela of perhaps 100,000 people in southern São Paulo, where covid-19 deaths are rising at a faster rate than anywhere else in the city, saw the festive side. A popcorn vendor set up shop to serve the stream of patients entering a clinic. School-aged boys flew kites nearby. “Brazil adapted well to this new reality,” joked one, pointing to crowded rooftops and the dancing diamonds overhead.
This article appeared in the The Americas section of the print edition under the headline "Losing the battle"
From the May 30th 2020 edition
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