Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Sep;42(3):439-451.
doi: 10.1057/s41271-021-00302-0. Epub 2021 Aug 27.

How Brazil's President turned the country into a global epicenter of COVID-19

Lucas Ferrante  1 , Luiz Duczmal  2 , Wilhelm Alexander Steinmetz  3 , Alexandre Celestino Leite Almeida  4 , Jeremias Leão  3 , Ruth Camargo Vassão  5 , Unaí Tupinambás  2 , Philip Martin Fearnside  6
Affiliations
Review

How Brazil's President turned the country into a global epicenter of COVID-19

Lucas Ferrante et al. J Public Health Policy. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

In this manuscript, we point out that the federal government headed by President Bolsonaro has pursued a political agenda that contributed to the spread of COVID-19, transforming the country into a major repository for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, thus representing a risk for worldwide containment efforts. Furthermore his actions are also weakening democratic institutions, which could counter his political agenda, effectively facilitating the spread of COVID-19. Thus, the perpetuation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is due to human behaviour factors, especially high-level public decision makers.

Keywords: Bolsonaro; Coronavirus; Epidemiology; Indigenous peoples; Public health policy; SARS-CoV-2.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors state that they have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Ministério da Saúde. Painel Coronavírus. Ministério da Saúde, Brasília, DF, Brazil; 5 August, 2021. https://covid.saude.gov.br/.
    1. Albuquerque R, Leão J, Steinmetz WA, Orellana J. Os Desaparecidos da COVID-19—Quarentenas Amazônicas, vol. 6. 1st ed. Manaus, AM: EDUA; 2020.
    1. Ferrante L, Fearnside PM. Protect Indigenous peoples from COVID-19. Science. 2020;368:251–252. doi: 10.1126/science.abc0073. - DOI - PubMed
    1. O Globo. Governo Bolsonaro pagou influenciadores para defender atendimento precoce contra Covid-19, diz agência. O Globo, 31 March 2021. https://tinyurl.com/2s4pvfvt.
    1. Lancet. COVID-19 in Brazil: “So what?” The Lancet 2020;395:1461. 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31095-3. - PMC - PubMed