An important aspect of the Coronavirus situation in Brazil that commentators haven't highlighted enough is Brazilian federalism. Brazil is a federal republic, a

An important aspect of the Coronavirus situation in Brazil that commentators haven't highlighted enough is Brazilian federalism. Brazil is a federal republic, although our federalism isn't as solid as the American counterpart (the federal government tends to be much stronger in Brazil). However, with Bolsonaro's weak response to the crisis, the Brazilian Supreme Court officially recognised the power of state and municipal governments to decree quarantines and lockdowns and to organise their COVID-19 strategies independently. As a result, things look very different depending on which state and city you're looking at. Some places have been hit hard, others are doing well. I live in the interior of Minas Gerais, a state that's comparable to Texas in area and to Florida in population size. The mayor of my town locked down the city relatively early (late March). It didn't last long, with local businesses pressuring for it to reopen and low coronavirus incidence, but I think it helped. A more recent decree has made masks mandatory. So far the numbers look OK - there has been a single COVID-19 death (~80k population). Other Brazilian states have not been so lucky. I can say with confidence that it would have helped tremendously if the federal government had taken this seriously from the beginning, and organised a nation-wide plan to handle the crisis. It is inconceivable to me that anyone would disagree. We were well aware of the situation in other countries - there was no reason to assume things would have played out differently in Brazil. While Brazil hasn't been as hard hit as other countries if you consider population size, no one has dealt with the problem as irresponsibly as we have. Tens of thousands of deaths could have been avoided. It is a real tragedy.