Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization (WHO), even as the number of COVID-19 cases are on the rise.
This threat came after the UN Health Agency warned against the lifting of lockdown in the Latin American nation. The President has been strongly opposed to imposing any form of a lockdown, as it would have economic ramifications.
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The WHO had warned against the lifting of the lockdown and had said that one of the six conditions to be met before doing away with the lockdown was to achieve the prevention of community transmissions.
Brazil with over 600,000 cases and around 34,000 cases continues to remain a hotspot globally.
It was in this context that the President threatened to pull out of the WHO.
He said that Brazil will consider leaving the organization until it ceases to be a “partisan political organization”.
US President Donald Trump had earlier pulled out of the same organization.
The Brazilian President has been criticised from the beginning as he refused to order a lockdown and threatened to sue those governors who did so.
He described the virus as just a ‘small flu’.