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Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the seriousness of the coronavirus, calling it a ‘little flu’. Photo: Reuters

World

Explainer | Who to blame as world tops 5 million Covid-19 deaths?

Pandemic mismanagement under scrutiny as global death toll grows
Some leaders and health officials are facing legal investigations

Coronavirus pandemic

Agence France-Presse

Published: 1:04pm, 2 Nov 2021

Why you can trust SCMP

More than 5 million people worldwide have died from Covid-19 less than two years after the novel pathogen was first documented, despite the arrival of vaccines that have slashed fatality rates across the globe. But scientists warn the pandemic is far from over.

Several world leaders and officials are under fire for their management of the pandemic, with some facing charges and legal investigations.

Brazil: crimes and ‘quackery’

In Brazil, one of the hardest-hit countries with more than 600,000 deaths, a Senate commission approved on October 27 a damning report that recommended President Jair Bolsonaro face at least 10 charges over his Covid policies.

The far-right leader repeatedly played down the seriousness of the virus, calling it a “little flu”, promising treatments scientists said were ineffective, rallying against lockdown measures and vaccinations.

Among the charges are crimes against humanity, “quackery”, inciting crime and violation of health measures.

While the accusations are serious, the process may be just symbolic since Bolsonaro enjoys enough congressional support to avoid the opening of impeachment proceedings.

France’s former health minister Agnes Buzyn. File photo: EPA

France ex-health minister charged

Former health minister Agnes Buzyn was charged in September with “endangering the lives of others”, over her handling of the pandemic.

Buzyn, who resigned from her post in February 2020, weeks after the first cases were confirmed in France, has faced criticism and ridicule over her initial statements about the crisis.

Former prime minister Edouard Philippe and current Health Minister Olivier Veran are also being investigated by magistrates at a special court that has powers to prosecute ministers and has had their offices searched.

With coronavirus untamed, Russia suffers deadliest September since WW II

Covid-19 deaths in the US soared when Donald Trump was president. File photo: EPA

Covid-sceptic Donald Trump

Former US president Donald Trump, who himself was infected with Covid, came under fierce criticism for his handling of the pandemic.

Under Trump, the number of Covid-19 deaths in the US soared to by far the world’s highest toll as he resisted imposing face masks, shutdowns and other measures.

“Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,” his successor Joe Biden said during an electoral debate.

The US has the world’s highest death toll of more than 740,000 deaths.

01:38

Global Covid-19 death toll passes 5 million, but experts say actual number is much higher

British government inquiry

With one of the highest death tolls in Europe of more than 140,000, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged an independent inquiry will open in 2022 into his much-criticised management of the pandemic.

In a damning assessment mid-October, a cross-party group of lawmakers said the government’s response had been “one of the most important public health failures” in the country’s history.

Leading advisers were guilty of “groupthink” and pushed a “gradual and incremental approach” to social distancing and lockdowns. This approach was marked by “fatalism” about the spread of the virus.

There were “many thousands of deaths which could have been avoided”, the report said, when elderly patients were discharged from hospitals into care homes without testing.

WHO tracking Covid-19 ‘Delta Plus’, now in at least 42 countries

India’s devastating wave

In April and May 2021, India was hit by a massive wave of infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant, which saw peaks of around 400,000 cases and 4,000 daily deaths.

The central government’s management of the crisis has come under severe criticism due to the catastrophic impact it had on the country’s underfunded health sector.

Delhi’s regional government set up a high-level committee to look into deaths caused by lack of oxygen supplies and while the city’s lieutenant general tried to stop its establishment his decision was overturned by the Delhi High Court.

Some politicians are facing prosecution in the High Court for alleged hoarding of drugs that were thought to help in the treatment of Covid.

Italy WHO official

Prosecutors from Bergamo, epicentre of Italy’s first wave, are investigating the potential mismanagement of the pandemic when it first hit the country in early 2020.

In particular, they are looking into the role played by one top World Health Organization accused of lying after he spiked a critical report on Italy’s virus response to avoid a political confrontation with Rome.

The 102-page WHO report analysing Italy’s early response concluded the country’s pandemic preparedness plan was outdated and its hospitals’ first reaction was “improvised, chaotic and creative”.

In court over Austria ski cluster

In September the first civil lawsuit was heard in a court in Vienna over a notorious outbreak at a popular ski resort in 2020, where thousands of people from 45 countries claim to have become infected and 32 died.

It is the first of 15 lawsuits filed by plaintiffs from Austria and Germany, who accuse the authorities of not responding quickly enough to outbreaks in Ischgl and other resorts in the province of Tyrol.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg