President Jair Bolsonaro rode down the thoroughfare on horseback that day, waving to his supporters as they chanted “Mi-to! Mi-to! Mi-to!” Myth, myth, myth. The COVID-19 pandemic is a myth, and accepted mitigation measures like social distancing and masking are lies. It didn’t matter that a half million Brazilians had gotten the virus at this point. His supporters, crowded shoulder to shoulder on either side of the railing separating them from their leader, bought into Bolsonaro’s definition of reality.

Meanwhile, the city of Manaus in the middle of Brazil was still traumatized from the first COVID wave, but had expected herd immunity and alternative treatments to protect the population from the coming second wave. The more lethal Gamma variant, however, would make the first wave look mild in comparison.

Script and Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jUpLVTSo5dGNCCu70NaGe3w3BIDl67zopQ_h5QLqqp0/edit?usp=sharing