Brazil’s health minister, Dr. Nelson Teich, has resigned after less than a month in the job following disagreements over the government’s handling of the country’s escalating coronavirus crisis.
Teich’s resignation is coming a day after President Jair Bolsonaro stepped up pressure on him to expand use of the antimalarial drug chloroquine in treating patients.
Nelson Teich, an oncologist and health care consultant, took the job on April 17 faced with the task of aligning the ministry’s actions with the president’s view that Brazil’s economy must not be destroyed by restrictions to control spread of the virus.
He had criticised a decree issued by President Jair Bolsonaro allowing gyms and beauty parlours to reopen. he, however, gave no reason for his resignation at a press conference.
Teich’s predecessor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, also had rejected the use of chloroquine, which also had been touted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment.
The President has continue to oppose lockdown measures, downplaying the virus as “a little flu” and has said the spread of Covid-19 is inevitable, attracting global criticism.
Data on Brazil’s coronavirus status stands at 220,291 confirmed cases, with 84,970 recovered and 14,962 deaths.
