Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired his health minister on Thursday after clashing with him over how to fight the new coronavirus, and again called for states to end stay-at-home orders that he said were hurting the economy.
Few global leaders have done more than Bolsonaro to downplay the global pandemic, which has killed nearly 2,000 Brazilians. He has called the virus “a little flu” and criticized state governors for imposing the shutdowns supported by health experts and the popular outgoing minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta.
In televised remarks met with pot-banging protests in major cities, Bolsonaro said Mandetta did not fully appreciate the need to protect Brazilian jobs and called again for a resumption of economic activity. “We