O’Brien, during an interview with CBS’s “Face the Nation”, said the administration would likely make a decision on limiting travel to Brazil on Sunday, and said White House officials “hope it’s temporary” . He said the White House “would take a look at other countries on a country-by-country basis” in that region.
Asked to report that travel restrictions in Europe since mid-March have come late to prevent the spread of the virus in the United States, O’Brien stressed President Donald Trump’s decision to limit some travel to China, but suggested that U.S. officials were unaware that people traveling across Europe from China could bring Covid-19 to America in the weeks leading up to the implementation of travel restrictions on Europe.
“We didn’t know that at the time, but we later learned that the Chinese continued to allow people to travel from Wuhan to Europe,” he said.
The coronavirus has not yet peaked in Sao Paulo, the largest and most serious city in Brazil, but the health system is already starting to fail. As the crisis deepens and the death toll continues to rise, President Jair Bolsonaro is urging businesses to reopen. He opposes many governors who are emphasizing social removal measures to slow down the spread.
Far from hospitals, Brazilian indigenous peoples they are dying at an alarming rate. The death toll is twice that of the rest of the Brazilian population, according to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil defense group.
The APIB recorded over 980 officially confirmed coronavirus cases and at least 125 deaths, suggesting a 12.6% mortality rate – compared to the national 6.4% rate.
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