While other countries look to open up, Brazil can't find a way to shut down
RIO DE JANEIRO —In Europe, parks are reopening, and people are taking back the streets. Australia has announced plans to jump-start tourism. Restrictions are easing in the United States.
But while much of the world is negotiating the terms of reopening, Brazil, which has registered nearly 11,000 dead and become the world’s latest coronavirus hot spot, still cannot find a way to properly shut down.
In hard-hit urban centers such as Rio de Janeiro, people still pack the streets. The boardwalks are still populated by beachgoers, including the elderly. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is still downplaying the threat, declaring last week he would celebrate this weekend with a massive barbecue. Following pushback, he rode a water scooter instead.
Rather than unifying the country against one common threat, the pandemic response is further dividing this deeply polarized society. Bolsonaro, whose instinct has been to do nothing, has deferred to state governors, who in turn have punted the responsibility of implementing the strictest measures to municipalities. The result has been a confederacy of conflicting and contradictory measures that change not only by state and city — but also by city section.
Some cities in the northeast and north, where the health system is particularly precarious, have begun to institute lockdowns. But others are delaying for as long as possible — or struggling to win the support of the population. The mayor of disease-ravaged Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon forest, is warning that a lockdown would result in social chaos.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/while-other-countries-look-to-open-up-brazil-cant-find-a-way-to-shut-down/ar-BB13Slf7?li=BBnb7Kz
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