forBloombergBusinessweekwhovisitedinJunefoundit farfrom
finished,withnoobvioussignsofongoingconstruction,let
alonepatients.Thathadn’tstoppedsomeonefrompaperinga
concretewallattheedgeofthesitewithposterstoutingthegov-
ernment’spandemicresponseefforts.“Itwasn’treadywhenwe
neededit most,”saidAuriaAlmeida,a middle-agedwomanwho
wasstandingintheshadenearby.Thefacilityseemedtohave
madelittleimpressiononthelocals.A teenageboywhowas
sellingorangesona streetcornerhadneverheardofit.Waiting
inlineatanautopartsstore,a mannamedFabioCarvalhotook
it asa giventhatfundsforthehospitalhadbeenmisappropri-
ated.“Themoneyhasgoneallovertheplace,”hesaid.
ThestoryinNovaIguaçuhasplayedoutincitiesacrossthe
country,withpromisedtemporaryhospitalssittingunfinished
orunequippedmonthsintothepandemic.Thechallenges
ingettingthemupandrunningarea reminderthat,ofall
Brazil’shandicapsinfightingCovid-19,corruption—andthe
state’srelatedfailuresindeliveringessentialprojects—might
bethemostdisheartening.Brazilhasa richhistoryofgraft,
rangingfrompalm-greasing to outright theft. Luiz Inácio Lula
da Silva, who served as president from 2003 to 2010, was jailed
on charges stemming from Operation Carwash, a sprawling
investigation into bribery involving the state oil company,
Petrobras. Bolsonaro, who pledged to clean up scandals asso-
ciated with Lula and his successor, Dilma Rousseff, has been
embroiled in allegations that he tried to prevent federal police
from investigating his family. (Both the current and former
president deny wrongdoing.)
Not surprisingly, Brazil’s sudden need for more masks,
gowns, ventilators, and hospital beds, already complicated
by a global rush for the same equipment, wasn’t wasted by
bureaucrats and politicians looking to make some extra cash.
Policeinseveralstatesareinvestigatingthesuspectedmisuse
offunds,overpaymentsforsuppliesthatneverarrived,and
contract-paddingforpoliticallyconnectedbusinesspeople.
Health officials in the states of Pará and Rio de Janeiro have
been fired, while lawmakers in the latter are trying to oust
Governor Wilson Witzel over suspicions he used hospital
contracts to line his pockets. (Witzel says the allegations are
politically motivated and he did nothing wrong.)
Brazil has nowhere near the medical resources to han-
dle a second wave of cases—let alone the first, which is still
expanding, spreading along bus routes and waterways deep
into the interior. To make matters worse, July, August, and
September are winter months in the southern hemisphere,
potentially bringing an even faster uptick in infections.
Researchers at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de
Janeiro estimate cases could reach 1.4 million before the end
of June, bringing the death toll to almost 60,000. By mid-
July,saystheUniversityofWashington’sInstituteforHealth
MetricsandEvaluation,BrazilwillovertaketheU.S.inper-
capitafatalities.
“Wehavemanymonthsstilltogo,”saysJulioCroda,anepi-
demiologistwhopreviouslyworkedininfectious-disease sur-
veillance at the Brazilian Health Ministry. “What’s sad to see
is that the curve is still steepening.” <BW> �With Peter Millard55Stilt houses in São Luís’s Liberdade neighborhood