18 Apr 2020

Katy Watson: Brazil and coronavirus

From Saturday Morning, 8:10 am on 18 April 2020

While the USA might be the current epicentre of the Covid-19 outbreak, another country headed by a strongman leader is grappling with its effects too. Brazil has had nearly 30,000 cases of the virus and close to 2,000 fatalities to date.

The country's president Jair Bolsonaro has consistently downplayed the seriousness of the outbreak- even alienating the political allies who got him into power- and government inaction has led to vigilante quarantine rules enforced by gang leaders in favelas around the country.

Katy Watson is the BBC's South America correspondent, and joins us to discuss the situation and the potential fallout.

An image of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro wearing a protective face mask and the phrase “Hysteria Damages the Economy" is projected on the wall of a building as a protest against the president regarding his handling of the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, March 21, 2020.

Photo: AFP