Thinking about COVID-19 Scenario in Brazil: The Alternation between the Useful, the Uncertain and the Futile

COVID-19 in Brazil: A Message to the World

“…10 Yes, what we see here is the clear effect of the so-called post-truth 11 echoing in science, mixing reason and emotion in a contradictory broth, and taking people to the extreme of a faithful belief in any speech that relieves fears or promises a miracle of healing. In September 2020, we ourselves warned about the alternation between the useful, the uncertain and the futile in the COVID-19 epidemic in Brazil, 12 where the consumption of pseudoscientific or pre-scientific information has led authorities and deniers to indisputable misunderstandings. A clear example is the defense of early treatment with hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin, 13 even after several satisfactorily well-designed studies have pointed out the ineffectiveness of those drugs, whether for prevention, early treatment or decreased mortality of people affected by SARS-CoV-2.…”