Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-06-29)

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BloombergBusinessweek June 29, 2020

Castro’sbrotherMoises,a garbagecollector,wasthefirst

inherfamilytogetsick.Thenherotherbrother,Luciano,did

too,followedbytheirfather,Francisco,whohasdiabetes.He

sufferedbadly,strugglingtobreatheandrunninga soaring

fever.ButnooneinCastro’shouseholdwenttothehospital—a

placethatsomeinSãoLuísbelievemakespatientssicker,or

worse.“Thatwouldbea deathsentence,”shesaid.

AsAsia,WesternEurope,andpartsoftheU.S.emergefrom

whatwillhopefullybetheworstofthepandemic,thevirusin

Brazilisn’tslowingdown.BetweenlateMayandmid-Junethe

countrygallopedpastSpain,Italy,andtheU.K.intotalfatal-

ities,whichnowexceed51,000,thesecond-highesttollafter

thatoftheU.S.It’ssecondinoverallcases,too,withmorethan

1 millionconfirmedinfections.Withlocalofficialsnowlifting

quarantinesdespitecontinuedgrowthincases,it’sconceiv-

ablethat,whenCovid-19finallyrecedes,Brazilwillhavebeen

hitharderthananyothercountry.

ThereasonsBrazilhasmadesucha perfecthostforthe

coronavirusarediverseandnotyetfullyunderstood.Like

theU.S.it neverissuednationwiderulesforsocialdistanc-

ing.Evenif thegovernmenthadwantedto,theruleswould

havebeenimpossibletoenforceina countryof 210 million

wheresomestatesarelargerinlandareathanFrance.That

leftlocalofficialstodoastheysawfit,issuingordersthatvar-

iedwildlyandsometimescontradictedoneanother.Povertyis

certainlyalsopartofthepicture:Inthedenselypackedfavelas

threadedthroughBraziliancities,socialdistancingisn’tfea-

sible,andnotworkingmeansnoteating,especiallywiththe

cash-strappedstateunabletoprovideenoughsupport.Sois

thedysfunctionofthegovernment.Overcrowdinginpublic

hospitalsisa long-standingproblem,asisgraftamongthe

peoplewhoaresupposedtobuildnewones.

Andthenthere’sPresidentJairBolsonaro,a right-wingpop-

ulistwhocametopowerwitha 2018campaignthatechoed

DonaldTrump’spledgesto“draintheswamp.”Sincethe

coronavirusappearedinBrazilinlateFebruary,Bolsonarohas

frequentlyobstructedeffortstocontainit,demandinglocal

officialsabandonseveretacticslikeshutteringbusinesses,

firinga healthministerwhopushedfora moreaggressive

response,andatonepointlimitingthedisclosureofepide-

miologicaldata,sayingthatwithoutthenumberstherewould

“nolongerbea story”ontheeveningnews.(TheSupreme

Courtorderedthegovernmenttoresumereleasingthefig-

ures.)WhileintheearlyweeksoftheoutbreakBolsonaro’s

intransigenceresembledwhatwashappeningintheWhite

House,evenTrumpgrudginglyconcededtheseverityofthe

situationoncethebodycountstartedtosoar.Bolsonaro,

meanwhile,hasdoubleddown,insistingthattheantimalarial

drugchloroquine is an effective treatment and claiming the

number of cases is being exaggerated.

On a recent afternoon in São Luís, the capital of Maranhão

state in northeastern Brazil, Hosana Lima Castro sat on

aflimsyplasticchairinfrontofherhouseasstraydogs

sniffedpotholesinthenarrow street and a few neighbor-

hood kids launched kites. The bar across the way, where

afewmonthsagoanacquaintanceofCastro’shadbeen

shot,wasclosed becauseofthepandemic. Her job at

aconveniencestorehad disappeared,too,soCastro,

who’s 43 andshareshermodest home with her father,

two brothers, and two of her kids, had nowhere else

tobe.Althoughthecoronavirus is widespread across

Brazil’snortheast,shewasn’twearingamask.Norwas

anyoneelseinhercrowdedneighborhood, where basic

services have been so neglected that many residents

have no access to clean water.