Name? Jair Bolsonaro
Westphalian identity? Brasilian
Age? 64
Why is he in the news? Earlier today news came out of Brazil that Bolsonaro had been infected with the Coronavirus after his chief of communication had been diagnosed earlier. Later today, the Brasilian government published a statement that Bolsonaro’s test had been negative.
Why do we care? A few days ago he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago and we thought that mother earth took out “Mr Coal is great” and “Mr Let me burn your forest” with one virus. It would be ironic if the two President downplaying Corona the most were infected first. But obviously we do not wish that anyone gets sick. Stay healthy out there, you as well Mr Trump.
Why should you care? This is an excellent example of how quickly false information can spread. Three hours after a Brasilian newspaper published the news it was all over the media in any language you prefer to read your news in. It only took three hours! The disclaimer by the government did not have the same effect on the media and there are probably still a lot of people who believe he has the Coronavirus.
Who else cares? The rainforest would like to request a stop of deforestation for a while (a few decades should do it) so it can recover. Thank you.
Any further comments? In times of headless panic and uncoordinated on the spot policymaking this kind of information can cause real harm to real people. So don’t spread uncertified pieces of information on the internet, just a rule in general btw… like washing your hands.
