SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Most Brazilians support stricter social distancing measures, according to a survey by pollster Datafolha published on Wednesday, to combat the novel coronavirus pandemic.
That contrasts with President Jair Bolsonaro, who has consistently attacked shelter-in-place policies, meant to curb the spread of the virus, as a “poison” that could kill more through unemployment and hunger than the outbreak itself.
The poll published in the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper showed 60% of Brazilians in favor of the more restrictive policies, with 37% against, and 3% unsure or indifferent.
As of Tuesday, Brazil had registered 24,512 deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, with 391,222 confirmed cases in Latin America’s largest economy.
Most cities and states in Brazil have implemented some form of physical distancing measures, closing non-essential businesses and urging people to stay home, but few have imposed obligatory policies enforced by law enforcement.
The poll showed an actual drop in adherence to those lighter lockdown measures currently in place in states and cities across Brazil, with some 35% of respondents saying they were leaving their homes compared with 27% on April 27, when a previous poll was done. Some 13% said they remained in total isolation compared to 16% in the previous poll.
Datafolha conducted 2,069 interviews by phone between Monday and Tuesday. The poll’s margin of error is 2 percentage points.
(Reporting by Eduardo Simes; Writing by Ana Mano; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
