Congressman Osmar Terra (MDB-RS) admitted in hearings that he was wrong in the projections about deaths and duration of the coronavirus pandemic. He also presented a view on herd immunity that contradicts what he had previously said.
Terra, Jair Bolsonaro's ally and appointed as a member and "godfather" of the parallel cabinet, denied that there is an advisory structure from the head of the Executive to the Ministry of Health. He also said he had "zero" influence over the president.
The congressman gave testimony to the commission on Tuesday. The commission's senators mainly explored how he misguided him regarding the Covid pandemic and his defense of herd immunity.
Terra acknowledged that he was wrong in the projections, but justified himself by arguing that he made them based on the data available at the time.
He stated in March 2020 that Brazil would have at most 2,000 deaths as a result of the pandemic, but the country has already surpassed the 500,000 mark.
"There are 4,000 deaths in China to date. It was the outbreak that had to be analyzed at the time: 4,000 deaths in a country of 1.4 billion people led us to the idea that it would not be such a serious thing."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon