Brazilian health minister expects to be out of job by Friday

Brazilian Health Minister Henrique Mandetta said on Thursday he would be out of a job by Friday, while playing down fears that his departure after clashes with President Jair Bolsonaro would disrupt efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic. In a live webcast with healthcare industry officials, Mandetta said he will assist his replacement, yet to be determined, during the transition in the ministry.

"We have a prospect of change here in the ministry, it must be today or, at the latest, tomorrow, but this will finally happen," the minister said. "Our focus is on the virus and we will be very careful to support whoever comes here, we will not make any sudden movements," he added. Bolsonaro and Mandetta have been at odds over the handling of the coronavirus epidemic for weeks, with the populist right-wing president downplaying it as a "little flu," defending the use of unproven drugs and opposing social distancing measures endorsed by his own health minister.

The Health Ministry's response to the epidemic was rated "good" or "great" by 76% of Brazilians surveyed by pollster Datafolha this month. Just 33% of those surveyed gave Bolsonaro the same ratings. Brazil's death toll from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, was at 1,736 on Wednesday, while confirmed cases reached 28,320, according to data from the ministry.