President Bolsonaro orders lotteries in Brazil be reopened amid COVID-19 pandemic

The measures implemented by Bolsonaro are not in line with the decisions that have been made by other political leaders worldwide to navigate through the coronavirus outbreak.

The Brazilian head of state questioned some of the confinement measures that many states in his country have been adopting, asking governors to “get back to normal” as soon as possible and to limit restrictions to at-risk patients.

During a speech Tuesday, Bolsonaro urged citizens to "control panic and hysteria" over an illness he described as "a little flu".

"There are 12,956 lottery agencies in Brazil, and 2,463 of them have been shut down pursuant to municipal or local executive orders,", the president tweeted. He added that, for lottery agencies to be able to “operate at their full,” he ordered all federal lotteries to be reopened as of Thursday.

In an interview with a local TV show broadcast Sunday, Bolsonaro attacked the governors of key states including Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo who have ordered residents to stay at home and are imposing quarantines.

Brazilian authorities have reported over 2,900 confirmed coronavirus cases and a death toll of 77 (Data correct on Friday).

"We can bring the economy back to life, but what we cannot bring back is the life of those who are already dead," said Rio’s state governor, Wilson Witzel, urging citizens to "stay home."