Brazilian lawyer Agnes Christian, 38, a resident of Rio de Janeiro and married to a Russian, refused to wait around to see what will happen in Brazil during the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday (14), shortly after teaching, she received a call from friends in Moscow. "They told me: 'There is a flight leaving in five hours. The numbers [of the pandemic] in Brazil are not good, its president is crazy. Don't you want to come here?'", she said.
Agnes left. She packed her suitcase and ran to the airport. "I know Rio de Janeiro. When there is a lack of medical care and food, it will become barbaric," she said.
For her, in Russia, the situation is more controlled because the government has been taking preventive measures since January. "If you have a suspicion of the disease, an ambulance will go to your house to test you and assist you. There was an infected girl who took a train. They ran after everyone who shared the cabin with her to test it. One person refused to quarantine and was prosecuted."
Russia registered 658 cases and only one death from the coronavirus, but after internal and external questions, the country admitted on Tuesday (24) that the low number is due to underreporting due to lack of tests.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon