COVID-19 macabre nightmare in Brazil: between denials and ravings

Abstract

The text discusses the difficulties to face COVID-19 raised by the speech and the actions defended by the federal government. In contrast to the governments of countries that have achieved effective results in controlling the pandemic, representatives of the Brazilian government, among which the President of the Republic stands out, are continually disqualify publicly both risks and the adoption of scientifically based prevention measures, in particular social isolation, defending, in its place, the so-called ‘herd immunity’. The reiterated argument is that there is an opposition between the preservation of the economy and life, the former being a priority. Such manifestations are accompanied by constraints on state and municipal governments in carrying out locally defined preventive measures. This attitude expresses contempt for human life and an acute disregard for the socially most vulnerable population, which, in countries with chronic inequalities, such as Brazil, suffer the most serious effects of an epidemic.