Judge Orders Brazil's Bolsonaro to Wear Mask

FILE - In this March 18, 2019 file photo, Brazil's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, right, gives anti-bacterial gel to President Jair Bolsonaro as they give a press conference on the new coronavirus at Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia, Brazil. Mandetta criticized Bolsonaro’s dismissive handling of the COVID-19 pandemic on national television Sunday night, April 12, and the president’s repeated threats to fire him are worrying health experts who say that amid governmental chaos, the health minister's advice to limit contact and take the virus seriously has played a major role in preventing Brazil’s epidemic from being even worse. (AP Photo/Andre Borges, File )

BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) — A federal judge in Brazil ordered President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a face mask in public, after the far-right leader repeatedly flouted the coronavirus containment measures in place in Brasilia.

Judge Renato Borelli ordered Bolsonaro, who has famously compared the new coronavirus to a “little flu,” to stop ignoring the capital city’s mask decree, or face a fine of $390.

“The president has a constitutional obligation to follow the laws in force in the country, as well as to promote the general welfare of the people, which means taking the necessary measures to protect citizens’ right to health,” the judge wrote in his ruling Monday.

The decision also applies to Bolsonaro’s cabinet and staff.

The case was brought by a lawyer who said the president should be held to account for his “irresponsible behavior.”

Masks have been mandatory in public in Brasilia since April to curb the spread of the virus.

Bolsonaro regularly breaks the social distancing measures in place in the capital, giving handshakes and hugs at rallies by his supporters, hosting barbecues, hitting the shooting range and going out for hotdogs, generally without a mask.

His former education minister Abraham Weintraub was fined 2,000 reals last week for attending a pro-Bolsonaro rally in Brasilia without a mask.

Brazil has the second-highest Covid-19 death toll in the world, after the United States, at more than 51,000.

Categories / Government, Health

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