The Brazilian government has been accused of censorship and totalitarianism after President Jared Bolsonaro ordered to stop sharing the total COVID-19 tally and country’s death toll and wiping the data off the official website.
According to reports, the Health Ministry officials indicated that the order was issued by Bolsonaro himself and the decision has sparked outrage among the citizens of Brazil.
Brazil has so far reported more deaths then Italy and a greater number of cases than the U.S. and Russia and has been reported as the next emerging hotspot for COVID-19.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Brazil are about 672,846, which is the second-highest in the world after the U.S. Almost 36000 people have lost their lives to the pandemic in the country.
Bolsonaro’s decision has sparked anger among Brazilian health officials as well.
“The authoritarian, insensitive, inhuman and unethical attempt to make those killed by Covid-19 invisible will not succeed. We and Brazilian society will not forget them, nor the tragedy that befalls the nation,” said Alberto Beltrame, the secretary of the National Council of Health, in an official statement.
A manipulação de estatísticas é manobra de regimes totalitários. Tenta-se ocultar os números da #COVID19 para reduzir o controle social das políticas de saúde. O truque não vai isentar a responsabilidade pelo eventual genocídio. #CensuraNao #DitaduraNuncaMais
— Gilmar Mendes (@gilmarmendes) June 6, 2020
Brazil has removed months of data on Covid-19 from a government website amid criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the outbreak. Unlike in the UK where it’s ‘lies, damned lies and statistics’, in Brazil its now ‘lies, damned lies and no statistics’.
— Paul Delaney (@coaimpaul) June 8, 2020
Under the guidance of President Bolsonaro, the Brazil government stopped sharing the cumulative data concerning the COVID-19 toll and the total number of deaths in its daily bulletin. It, on the other hand, resorted to reporting of the daily numbers only.
The health ministry was taken offline on Friday, June 5, apparently to wipe off the data and returned online on Saturday without the total number of deaths and COVID-19 tally so far.
The decision taken by Bolsonaro has been widely criticized by the doctors, medical associations and governors, accusing him of controlling information. Using the Brazilian constitution and freedom of information law, the interim health minister has been sent a notice by federal prosecutors to explain the decision.
Two health ministers have been replaced since the COVID-19 pandemic began and currently, there is no permanent health minister in charge of the department to oversee the actions being implemented. The interim health minister, Eduardo Pazuello, is an army general with no prior experience in healthcare.
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