Bolsonaro Fires Health Minister Who Clashed Over ‘Little Flu’
Mandetta refused to bow to demands to ease social distancing policies in favor of reopening the economy.
(Bloomberg) -- President Jair Bolsonaro fired the government’s top doctor after he refused to bow to demands to ease social distancing policies in favor of reopening the economy.
Nelson Teich, a University of York-trained oncologist, was named health minister to replace Luiz Henrique Mandetta, whose relationship with his boss grew strained as the two publicly clashed over the best way to tackle the crisis. The administration has struggled to align its strategy in recent weeks, with Mandetta repeatedly urging Brazilians to self isolate and Bolsonaro flaunting that advice by mingling with supporters and calling the illness “just a flu.”
The shuffle opens the door for Bolsonaro to push ahead with plans to advocate targeted shutdowns in which only at-risk groups are quarantined. But while Teich said Thursday he’s on the “same page,” reversing course will be no easy task as the pair still needs to convince state governors who are leading the charge on shutting schools and businesses. Global health officials caution that easing up on restrictions too soon could make way for an explosion in cases.
“The measures have to be eased,” Bolsonaro said Thursday at the presidential palace, while flanked by the new health minister. Teich’s mission is to “open jobs.”
It’s a critical moment in Brazil’s fight against the coronavirus, with the expected peak of the pandemic still weeks away. While the respiratory illness was slow to take hold in Latin America’s largest economy, cases are now ballooning. Many medical professionals -- and even Mandetta himself -- warned that the public health system would be pushed to collapse if infections track the explosion in other parts of the world. Official cases in Brazil doubled in the past week to about 30,500, with deaths nearing 2,000.
In his debut appearance as health minister, Teich said the nation’s social distancing policy won’t be “abruptly changed” before more information about the virus is available. The medical professional with a background in business previously founded Grupo COI, a network of oncology clinics, and also started a clinical research institute, according to his LinkedIn page.
Mandetta’s firing may further stoke criticism that Bolsonaro has responded slowly and erratically to the pandemic. The nation’s response is one factor weighing on Brazilian assets, with both the currency and the benchmark Ibovespa stock index ranking among the worst performers in this year’s global rout.
“From politics to the fiscal situation, Brazil has become one of the riskiest markets in the world right now,” said James Gulbrandsen, chief investment officer for Latin America at NCH Capital, which has about $3 billion in assets under management. “Our pessimism is a direct function of the seriousness with which leaders take this crisis. And Bolsonaro hasn’t taken this crisis seriously.”
Popular Minister
Mandetta leaves the job with a stronger approval rating than that of his former boss. As Bolsonaro announced his departure, Brazilians protested by banging pots and pans in several neighborhoods of the country’s biggest cities.
The former minister, also a doctor, often snatched the spotlight during daily Health Ministry briefings and countless media interviews in which he said quarantines were needed to slow the rate of new infections and allow the health system to cope with a flood of patients.
Many of Bolsonaro’s allies have broken with the president to support the health minister, including Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel and Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria. Senate President Davi Alcolumbre and lower house Speaker Rodrigo Maia have also voiced their support for Mandetta.
Brazil risks “being guided by politics and ideology instead of medicine and health,” Doria said at a press conference on Wednesday as rumors of the cabinet change gained steam. Losing Mandetta, Doria said, would be a “disaster.”
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.