Journal of Public Health Policy (2021) 42:439–451 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-021-00302-0 VIEWPOINT How Brazil’s President turned the country into a global epicenter of COVID‑19 Lucas Ferrante1 · Luiz Duczmal2 · Wilhelm Alexander Steinmetz3 · Alexandre Celestino Leite Almeida4 · Jeremias Leão3 · Ruth Camargo Vassão5 · Unaí Tupinambás2 · Philip Martin Fearnside6 Accepted: 7 August 2021 / Published online: 27 August 2021 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited 2021 Abstract In this manuscript, we point out that the federal government headed by President Bolsonaro has pursued a political agenda that contributed to the spread of COVID- 19, transforming the country into a major repository for SARS-CoV-2 and its vari- ants, thus representing a risk for worldwide containment eforts. Furthermore his actions are also weakening democratic institutions, which could counter his politi- cal agenda, efectively facilitating the spread of COVID-19. Thus, the perpetuation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil is due to human behaviour factors, especially high-level public decision makers. Keywords Bolsonaro · Coronavirus · Epidemiology · Indigenous peoples · Public health policy · SARS-CoV-2 On 5 August 2021, Brazil passed 559,607 deaths ofcially attributed to COVID-19, with drastic increases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in many municipalities (counties) and state capitals [1]. The number of deaths is underestimated and may * Lucas Ferrante
[email protected] 1 Ecology Graduate Program, National Institute for