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Political crisis and Covid surge rock Brazil

31 March 2021 18:30 (UTC +04:00)

Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro is facing the biggest crisis of his presidency after the heads of the army, navy and air force all quit and the country recorded its highest daily Covid-19 death toll, APA reports citing BBC.

The unprecedented resignation of the defence chiefs is being seen as a protest at attempts by Mr Bolsonaro to exert undue control over the military.

Mr Bolsonaro's popularity has plummeted over his response to Covid-19.

Nearly 314,000 people have died, with a new daily record of 3,780 on Tuesday.

An epidemiologist in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Dr Pedro Hallal, told the BBC he feared Brazil could become a threat to global public health.

President Bolsonaro has consistently opposed lockdown measures, arguing that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the coronavirus itself.

He has also told Brazilians to "stop whining" about the situation.

But last week, Mr Bolsonaro, who has previously raised doubts about vaccines and defended unproven drugs as treatment, said that he would make 2021 the year of vaccinations. "Very soon we'll resume our normal lives," he said.

So far Brazil has vaccinated just over 8% of the population, with some 17.7m vaccine doses dispensed.