Twitter removes two Bolsonaro tweets questioning virus quarantine
Two tweets by Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro where he questioned quarantine measures targeted at containing the novel coronavirus were removed Sunday, on the grounds that they violated the social network's rules.
The far-right leader had posted several videos in which he flouted his government's social distancing guidelines by mixing with supporters on the streets of Brasilia and urging them to keep the economy going.Two of the posts were removed and replaced with a notice explaining why that they had been taken down.
Twitter explained in a statement that it had recently expanded its global rules on managing content that contradicted public health information from official sources and may put persons at greater threat of transmitting COVID-19.In another of the deleted videos, Bolsonaro tells a street vendor, "What I have been hearing from persons is that they want to work."
"What I've said right from the start is that 'we will be careful, the over-65s stay in the home,'" he said."We cannot stand still, there is fear because unless you die of the condition, you starve," the vendor is seen telling Bolsonaro, who responds: "You're not likely to die!"
In another video, the president calls for a "go back to normality," questioning quarantine measures imposed by governors and some mayors across the giant South American country as a powerful containment measure against the virus."If it continues such as this, with the amount of unemployment what we could have later is a very serious problem which will take years to be resolved," he said of the isolation measures.
"Brazil cannot stop or we'll become Venezuela," Bolsonaro later told reporters outside his official residence.On Saturday, Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta highlighted the importance of containment as a way of fighting the coronavirus, which has already infected 3,904 persons in Brazil, leaving 114 dead, in line with the latest official figures."Some persons want me to shut up, follow the protocols," said Bolsonaro. "Just how many times does the physician not follow the protocol?"
"Let's face the virus with reality. It really is life, we should all die 1 day."In the four videos posted on his Twitter account, Bolsonaro is seen surrounded by small crowds as he walked about the administrative centre.Bolsonaro has described the coronavirus as "a flu" and advocated the reopening of schools and shops, with self-isolation necessary solely for the over-60s.
