The WHO (World Health Organization) was questioned, this Wednesday (1st), about President Jair Bolsonaro's speech (without a party), which distorted the organization's guidelines to contain the Covid-19's progress.
On Tuesday (31) morning, Bolsonaro said that the director-general of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had defended informal workers to continue working, which is not true. Tedros said that when determining social distancing policies, it is necessary to take into account the professionals who need to earn their daily bread.
At night, during a speech on national television, Bolsonaro again cited the WHO director, but this time to support the thesis that equates saving lives with jobs. The president cited larger excerpts from the head of the organization's interview the day before, in which he emphasized that governments should be concerned about the poorest during the pandemic, but again did not say that Tedros advocates isolation and mobility restrictions to contain the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, a journalist questioned Tedros about Bolsonaro's speech, and he referred the question to Michael Ryan, executive director of the entity's health emergency program.
He said: "In addition to lockdown measures, we need comprehensive strategies based on surveillance, public health intervention, case detection, testing, isolation, quarantine, and strengthening our health systems to manage the onslaught," said Ryan, who stressed that the message was aimed at all countries, not just Brazil.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon