US issues travel ban for Brazil due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Jair Bolsonaro. Palácio do Planalto.

President Trump has issued a travel ban to Brazil, moving the date up as new cases in Brazil have outpaced the United States. Reuters. Brazil has overtaken Russia as the 2nd worst affected country after the United States. The travel ban will be a blow to Jair Bolsonaro, who is a close ally to President Trump. Bolsonaro has been criticized for his response to the virus. US citizens in Brazil will be the only people allowed to enter the United States from Brazil. 

My Comment:

Fairly big news from Brazil. The United States and Brazil are close allies and both President Trump and President Bolsonaro are close friends and ideological allies. This will indeed be a big blow to Bolsonaro who is already getting attacked in the media for his response to the virus. 

But I think this is a necessary move. The virus is in retreat here in America and the biggest threat may be a 2nd wave from external countries like Brazil. The last thing we need is for this virus to come back after we have beaten it back because some Brazilian entered the country. 

Why is Brazil having so many problems with the virus? Contrary to media opinion I don't think it's all Jair Bolsonaro's leadership. While I do think that he didn't take the virus as seriously as he should, the virus was always going to be a problem for the hugely dense and populated South American country. Brazil has a ton of people all packed in close together so it's little wonder that the virus is spreading like wildfire there. 

I do wonder if the weather might be playing a role. Coronavirus seems to spread better in winter than in summer and seems to be fading in the Northern Hemisphere (with Russia being an obvious exception) while at the same time expanding in South America. Australia and New Zealand have gotten their outbreaks under control but it is flu season for South America and Africa. That may mean that things will get worse in countries like Brazil as the weather changes. 

I have thought for awhile that SARS 2 would follow the same pattern as SARS in that it would be very bad in March, peak in April and start to fade in May. In the Northern Hemisphere this seems to be the case but SARS never really became widespread in South America. My guess is that things will get worse there before it gets better and that if there is going to be a 2nd wave in the United States it will be because of the virus spreading out of places like Brazil. My hope is that this won't happen and that we will remain virus free in the summer and fall months, but time will tell. This travel ban will help reduce these chances...