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Burial in Manaus: More than 400,000 people have died in Brazil since the pandemic began
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Valdo Leão / dpa
High numbers of infections, resistant virus mutations are spreading and thousands of people die every day: In hardly any other country is the corona pandemic raging as it is in Brazil.
Now Jair Bolsonaro is coming under increasing pressure to deal with the situation.
Former Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta has raised allegations against the president in front of a parliamentary committee of inquiry because of his handling of the corona pandemic.
Mandetta, who was the first to be heard by the panel on Tuesday, said Mandetta had repeatedly ignored his warnings that his policies could lead to a collapse of the health system.
Brazil is one of the countries in the world hardest hit by the pandemic.
"Brazil could have done more"
"We strongly recommended that the President change his stance," Mandetta said.
He had "systematically warned" the right-wing extremist head of state.
Mandetta resigned in April last year after falling out with Bolsonaro over his pandemic management.
"Brazil could have done more," said the former minister.
The investigation by the Upper House of Parliament, ordered by Supreme Justice Luís Roberto Barroso at the beginning of April, into "possible omissions" by the head of state in corona crisis management could harm Bolsonaro.
There will be presidential elections in Brazil next year.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, which Bolsonaro consistently played down, more than 400,000 people have died in connection with the virus in the South American country.
That is the second highest number after the US.
In the meantime, the right-wing radical head of state is facing increasing pressure from allies in parliament and from business to take more effective action against the pandemic.
Brazil's former Justice Minister José Eduardo Cardozo also recently called for the international community to intervene in Brazil in a SPIEGEL interview.
asc / AFP
