Coronovirus Response In Brazil

This is an excerpt of our July 27, 2020 episode of What's Up With Water, as Circle of Blue reports on the coronavirus response in Brazil, where community leaders have stepped in to compensate for government failures. In the midst of a pandemic, Brazil has no health minister. Luiz Henrique Mandetta was fired by President Jair Bolsonaro in April, and Mandetta’s successor stepped down in May. Even though water, sanitation, and hygiene are bedrocks of public health, the federal government refuses to make them a priority, decreasing investment in the sector by billions of reals over the past decade. Despite prior success with both the Zika and swine flu outbreaks, Brazil’s federal, state, and local governments have largely failed to coordinate a clear and effective response to the coronavirus.