Covid-19: Move to censure Brazil’s Bolsonaro derailed by pandemic

An attempt to impeach Brazil's far-right president Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of Covid-19 has been frustrated by the growing impact of the pandemic on the south American country.

Federal deputy Alexandre Frota had planned to lodge impeachment proceedings against Mr Bolsonaro in congress on Tuesday for crimes against public health. But on the day the country registered its first death from the virus, the former Bolsonaro ally said he was unable to do so after his flight to the capital Brasília was among those hit by the rolling wave of cancellations announced by air carriers.

Later congress was suspended after at least two parliamentarians tested positive for Covid-19. As of Monday night the country has registered 234 cases. But ignoring calls from the World Health Organisation for mass testing, Brazil is testing only gravely ill patients. This has led to concerns that far more infected people may be unwittingly spreading the virus.

Mr Bolsonaro has been widely criticised for indulging in conspiracy theories and political attacks even as the virus has reached at least 16 of the country's 26 states as well as the capital Brasília. Unlike neighbouring countries such as Argentina, which has restricted entry at its frontiers, Mr Bolsonaro, who last week was still dismissing the "small crisis" as a "fantasy" perpetuated by the media, said he lacked the legal means to take similar measures.

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Calls for the president’s removal from office have grown in recent days even among former supporters like Mr Frota amid mounting evidence Mr Bolsonaro refuses to take the challenge posed by Covid-19 seriously. On Tuesday he criticised measures taken by some state governors as economically detrimental and said despite the “hysteria” provoked by the crisis he would be holding a party to celebrate his 65th birthday on Saturday.

The move to impeach comes at a particularly sensitive time as the president's relationship with congress, which would vote on his future, has sunk to an all-time low. Mr Bolsonaro caused disbelief by breaking his own self-isolation to greet supporters taking part in a rally against congress on Sunday. After lending his backing to the protest he went out to shake hands and pose for selfies, despite at least 13 people who travelled with him on visit to US president Donald Trump in Florida last week testing positive for the virus.

A first test on Mr Bolsonaro was reportedly negative, even though his son Eduardo told Fox News in the US he had tested positive. The president was due to undergo a second test on Tuesday. He has called demands that he self-isolate a “coup” against him.