By Lisandra Paraguassu
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro met with a potential replacement for Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta on Thursday, sources told Reuters, as Mandetta predicted he would be fired this week over disagreements with the right-wing president.
Bolsonaro and Mandetta have clashed for weeks over the need for widespread social isolation in the country to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The populist leader argues the measures are unnecessary and economically harmful, insisting the outbreak is being blown out of proportion.
Bolsonaro met with oncologist Nelson Teich, who is among candidates being considered for the health minister job, in a Thursday morning meeting kept off the official presidential agenda, two sources with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters.
One of the sources said more candidates were set to meet with Bolsonaro in coming days.
Teich had been considered as a candidate for health minister in 2018 when Bolsonaro won election, although Mandetta ultimately got the job. Teich currently works as a medical consultant, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Teich has posted on social media defending many of the same positions Mandetta holds, including “horizontal” isolation of the whole population, which Bolsonaro opposes.
Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat of the coronavirus as a “little flu,” arguing that Brazil’s economy must continue to run normally and defending the use of unproven drugs like hydroxychloroquine.
Mandetta said in a live webcast with health industry officials on Thursday that he expected to be fired by Friday, although he tried to minimize fears that his departure would disrupt efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic.
Mandetta said he will assist his replacement during the transition in the ministry.
“We have a prospect of change here in the ministry, it must be today or, at the latest, tomorrow, but this will finally happen,” Mandetta said. “Our focus is on the virus, and we will be very careful to support whoever comes here, we will not make any sudden movements,” he added.
The Health Ministry’s response to the epidemic was rated “good” or “great” by 76% of Brazilians surveyed by pollster Datafolha this month. Just 33% of those surveyed gave Bolsonaro the same ratings. [nL1N2BR14G]
Brazil’s death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, was at 1,736 on Wednesday, while confirmed cases reached 28,320, according to data from the ministry.
(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia; Additional reporting by Eduardo Simes in Sao Paulo; Writing by Jake Spring and Gabriela Mello; Editing by Paul Simao and Leslie Adler)
