Sao Paulo enters lockdown, without blasé Bolsonaro

Brazil's most populated city entered a 15-day lockdown on Tuesday, despite President Jair Bolsonaro's blasé response to the rapidly spreading coronavirus, that he describes as "a little flu." Gavino Garay reports.

Brail's largest city of Sao Paulo began fifteen days of lockdown to fight the spread of the coronavirus on Tuesday.

This after Brazil's own president, Jair Bolsonaro, has faced fierce criticism for his blasé treatment to combat the threat, WHICH he describes as a quote "little flu." On a Sunday interview with CNN affiliate Record TV, Bolsonaro criticized the media for hyperinflating the crisis saying quote, "the people will soon know they have been tricked by those governors and the mainstream media" The World Health Organization described the coronavirus, or COVID-19, as a pandemic.

Brazil's confirmed cases of the virus have tripled in four days to nearly 2,000 with at least 34 dead, according to data released by the Health Ministry on Monday.

Sao Paulo, which recorded the first cases, has been the hardest hit.

Bolsonaro has flauted public health warnings and resisted calling for Brazilians to stay at home and for businesses to close because of his concerns about harming the economy.

He has berated Brazilian governors and mayors who have taken such steps, even as some members of his inner circle have fallen ill.

It was the state government of Sao Paulo that ordered the two-week lockdown of all non-essential services.

But concerned citizens in Sao Paulo are banging on a different drum.

In a mass show of solidarity last Friday, people across the sprawling city banged on pots and pans and switched the lights on and off to show their appreciation for medical workers on the frontlines of the crisis.