Bolsonaro's anti-science response to coronavirus appals Brazil's governors

Top Brazilian politicians from across the political spectrum have warned that Jair Bolsonaro is putting thousands of lives at risk with what they called his reckless, paranoid, anti-scientific and belligerent response to the coronavirus.

In a series of scathing interviews – conducted as 26 of Brazil’s 27 state governors convened an emergency meeting to discuss Bolsonaro’s behaviour – regional chiefs told the Guardian they feared the far-right leader was sowing confusion over the need for quarantine and social distancing measures, and wasting precious time setting political bonfires to energize his radical base.

Bolsonaro sparked fury on Tuesday with an extraordinary address to the nation in which he rubbished the quarantine measures and travel restrictions being implemented by many state governors and urged Brazilians to return to work and schools – in contradiction of his own health ministry’s counsel.

The comments stunned state governors – many of whom are now in open revolt against the president.

“I was gobsmacked,” said Ronaldo Caiado, the rightwing governor of Goiás state and a former Bolsonaro ally.

“It’s appalling. You cannot govern a country like this,” added Caiado, who this week severed ties with Bolsonaro. “At a moment like this he should have the humility to leave things to those who understand them.”

Paulo Câmara, governor of the north-eastern state of Pernambuco, said regional chiefs were disappointed that “when every expert, from every country recommends staying at home … [Bolsonaro] goes on national TV and says this is an exaggeration, that distancing isn’t necessary, that the virus isn’t all that deadly, that it’s just ‘a little flu’.

“We’re sorry that right now the central command is more interested in political and electoral questions than the health of the Brazilian people,” added Câmara, whose state has registered 46 cases and three deaths.

Rui Costa, the Workers’ party governor of Bahia, said the country needed mature, professional and calm leadership – not ideology-infused grandstanding. “We cannot treat such a serious question in such a debauched manner,” he said.