Brazil: Bolsonaro considers exiting 'partisan political' WHO as COVID deaths cross 35,000

As the new record of COVID-19 fatalities pushed Brazil's death toll past that of Italy on Thursday, President Jair Bolsonaro threatened to pull out of the World Health Organization, unless it stops being a “partisan political organisation.”

Bolsonaro's comments came as COVID-19 cases in Brazil climbed past 600,000 and 1,437 deaths were registered on Thursday. With the death toll surpassing the 35,000 mark, the pandemic has killed more people in Brazil than in any country outside the United States and the United Kingdom.

An editorial from a Brazilian daily noted that just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro described the virus that is “killing a Brazilian per minute” as a “little flu.” “While you were reading this, another Brazilian died from the coronavirus,” the newspaper quoted Jair Bolsonaro.

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WHO warns governments against lifting lockdowns

Even as the country reels under coronavirus, President Bolsonaro is mulling on lifting the lockdown restrictions arguing that their economic costs exceed the risk of public health. When asked about limited lockdown restrictions in Brazil despite rising daily death rates and positive cases, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that the key criteria for lifting lockdowns were slowing transmission.

“The epidemic, the outbreak, in Latin America is deeply deeply concerning,” she told a news conference in Geneva. " Among six key criteria for easing quarantines, one of them is ideally having your transmission declining,” Harris said.

READ | Brazil Registers Record Number Of Daily Deaths From COVID-19 For Second Consecutive Day

Bolsonaro’s efforts to lift State-wide lockdown while dismissing public health risks have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum in Brazil, with some accuse him of using the crisis to undermine democratic institutions. Several critics have expressed concern about the safety of people carrying out anti-government demonstrations amidst a pandemic, especially after one small protest had an overwhelming show of police force last weekend.

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READ | Police Disperse Anti-Bolsonaro Protesters In Brazil