How the United States and Brazil reacted to the COVID-19 crisis

This blog post will explore the differences between the United States and Brazil’s response to the virus, how it has put in place different rules from one another. In the U.S. there has been no national leadership and each state decided to take different steps in response to the virus as a result of the lack of national response. In Brazil, the country was relatively quick to address the virus yet still did not have the best response. The country had support on all levels of the government, from federal to state and local police. Both countries have the highest rates of cases and deaths in the world (Charner). In order to help the economy as it was shut down the U.S. gave some citizens a one time stimulus check of $1,200 in order to help those struggling during the pandemic as well as to help the economy (US government). In Brazil they were given 1,200 BRL a month for three months (Lorena/Neris). Although both countries decided to give their citizens money, the U.S. decided to give their citizens significantly less than Brazil.

Furthermore, the U.S. lack of leadership on the national level left the citizens to follow their state officials, like their governor. The governors are in charge of things such as what establishments are safe to remain open, where testing sites go and where to find the necessary equipment to fight the virus. In an interview with Kathleen Sebelius, former Kansas governor, she said in response to tensions between the federal and state government, “There’s no question it’s costing lives. And It is dangerous on the granular level not to have the federal government use its unique powers and resources to deliver goods and services that they can uniquely do, and that they can get the best price for. And do it in a fair and transparent manner. That’s very important.” (Knotts/Chakrabarti). The U.S. response to the virus is not only a broken chain of command but overall, costing lives. As the United States struggles to respond efficiently, Brazil is moving just about the same. The Presidents of the US. and Brazil turned the virus into a political debate while at the same time, public health officials put in strict social distancing guidelines in Brazil and U.S. officials encouraged social distancing (Urban/San-Diniz). Brazil’s response was not too different from that of the U.S. and it is still interesting to see how two different governments are dealing with the virus. 

Works Cited

Charner, Flora. “Brazil Tops 1 Million Covid-19 Cases. It May Pass the US next, Becoming the Worst-Hit Country on the Planet.” CNN, Cable News Network, 19 June 2020, www.cnn.com/2020/06/19/americas/brazil-one-million-coronavirus-jair-bolsonaro-cases-intl/index.html. 

Knotts, Brittany, and Meghna Chakrabarti. “The Role Of Governors And The Federal Government During The Coronavirus Pandemic.” The Role Of Governors And The Federal Government During The Coronavirus Pandemic | On Point, WBUR, 16 Apr. 2020, www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/04/16/kathleen-sebelius-coronavirus-states-government. 

Lorena, Ana Carolina, and Eduardo Eduardo Henrique Correa da Silva Paranhos Neris. Federalism and the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives for Brazil, www.forumfed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/BrazilCOVID_Final_2.pdf. 

Lowey, Nita M. “H.R.6201 – 116th Congress (2019-2020): Families First Coronavirus Response Act.” Congress.gov, 18 Mar. 2020, www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/6201.

Urban, Marriana, and Eduardo Saad-Diniz. “Why Brazil’s COVID-19 Response Is Failing.” The Regulatory Review, 22 June 2020, www.theregreview.org/2020/06/22/urban-saad-diniz-brazil-covid-19-response-failing/.