'The virus can kill anyone': families condemn Bolsonaro's claim young people face little risk

"Young people should not fret about coronavirus, Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro declared on Tuesday as he announced he had contracted the illness.

But Hugo Dutra was youthful and fit: a dance-addicted millennial with no underlying medical conditions. He died in Rio on 18 April, after eight days on a ventilator.

“This virus can kill anyone, of any age,” said his father, Marcio Antonio Silva. “My son was 25, healthy, worked three jobs and never ever got sick – and he’s not here any more.”

“The thing that most hurts me is Bolsonaro’s indifference to our grief… It was repulsive to hear him yesterday,” added the 56-year-old chauffeur. “He said young people were not in danger – so why did my son die?”

Silva’s pain did not end with his son’s premature death.

Nearly two months later he found himself at the centre of a notorious and politically-charged incident, when a 70-year-old Bolsonaro supporter vandalized a beachside memorial to Covid-19 victims."

Read Newstory by Caio Barretto Briso

'The virus can kill anyone': families condemn Bolsonaro's claim young people face little risk | World news | The Guardian