In this year of the Plague….as seen from Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro
On 11th. March WHO declared Covid-19 more commonly called Corona Virus, to be a Pandemic.
From this mornings O Dia
Rio closes Schools and prohibits Cinemas, Theatres and Shows
Governor Witzel states that beaches can be forbidden.
Today is Saturday and its partly cloudy 27°C / 81°F – an ideal day for the beach as seen by Copacabana live cam
Tomorrow is forecast full sun and hotter
At least O Dia had the decency to record that this evening will be the 2nd anniversay of the as yet unsolved death of the Marielle Franco
I think the streets are quieter than usual for Saturday shopping. Selminha disagrees.
Shelves of pasta and rice and soft drinks are more than half empty in my local Rio Sul supermercado
The traficantes who control Rocinha favela of approx 100,000 people have announced that Favela tourism is banned.
No virus in any of the communities noted as yet but I fear it will be devastating when it starts.
Meanwhile the Bolsonazi does or does not have Coronanavirus?
In the surreal world that is Brazil the following is noted as fact
Last weekend he travelled to Florida to meet / grovel at the feet of the orange Emperor at his Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago
These people have tested positive and shared his 8 hour plane ride there and back
– Nestor Foster, possible Brazilian ambassador to Washington
– Nelsinho Trad – Senator for Campo Grande
– Fabio Wajngarten – Secretary of Communication
– Karina Kufa – lawyer to Bolsonaro and Party treasurer for the newly formed Aliança pelo Brasil
Eduardo Bolsonsaro confirmed to Fox news as per John Roberts FoxNews Chief White House Correspondent
that his father had a preliminary POSITIVE test for coronavirus.
Eduardo Bolsonaro now tells @FoxNews that the test was NEGATIVE.
Theis was reported in the Brazilian Press as it happened and then the Bolsonaro proceded to attack the press for publishing “Fake News” a game they frequently play here but which the International Press will not take kindly to especially as FoxNews is the US President’s mouthpiece.
Bolsonaro is now having a second test and is in isolation in Brasilia.
The military must be straining at the bit as VP General Hamilton Mourão is next in line.
In a further twist for the conspiracy theorists Bolsonaro’s ex minister Gustavo Bebianno, died of a heart attack yesterday aged 56
He was head of PSL; Bolsonaro’s original very nasty political party. He had also announced as a pre candidate for Mayor of Rio in the upcoming municipal elections.
Bebianno had received threats and had written a couple of as yet unseen letters outlining this.
I must reread Pepys 1965 – 66
Pepys, March 13th 1666
The plague encreased this week 29 from 28, though the total fallen from 238 to 207, which do never a whit please me.
Here are his plague references
Then there is Defoe’s more fictional Journal of the Plague Year.
Free download
– he was 6 years old in 1665 and wrote this in 1721 when the Black Death again threatened the European Continent.
Rules for social distancing in London in 1665 and His description of the fortune-tellers, astrologists and quack-doctors preying on the public’s fear has a strangely reassuring contemporary resonance.
For those of non nervous disposition here are some other Plague reading as recommended to me:
Plague of Justinian (academic)
Boccaccio – Decameron
Camus – The Plague, a review
Florence under Siege
