Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fired his popular health minister — who backed social distancing — over disagreements about how to handle the coronavirus

Ueslei Marcelino / Reuters

• On Thursday, Brazil's popular health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta announced he had been fired by president Jair Bolsonaro, after the pair had been clashing for several weeks over how Brazil should deal with the coronavirus.
• Bolsonaro has been downplaying the virus, calling it a "little flu" and repeatedly saying the economy was more important. Mandetta, on the other hand, advised people to take it seriously and practise social distancing. 
• As soon as the announcement was made people began banging their pots in protest and calling on Bolsonaro to quit instead. 
• As of April 17, Brazil has 30,683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,947 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. 
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Brazil's health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta has been fired by President Jair Bolsonaro.

Mandetta, a doctor and popular politician, was fired after publicly disagreeing with Bolsonaro over how to deal with the coronavirus in Brazil for the last few weeks.

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