Christ The Redeemer In Brazil Shines To Honor Frontline Workers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Brazil paid tribute to the frontline workers amid the coronavirus pandemic by lighting up the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro on Easter Sunday (April 12).

One picture depicted an image of Christ wearing a doctor’s white lab gown with a stethoscope, while the other one showed pictures of health workers wearing masks.

Also, there were messages of gratitude, in different languages, which appeared in Brazil’s Christ the Redeemer statue. A slogan showing the words “Fique Em Casa,” which meant “Stay At Home” was also reflected in the famous sculpture, CNN reported.

Last month, Brazil also projected the flags of the countries affected by coronavirus unto the Christ the Redeemer statue. A snap of which was uploaded by the political scientist and author, Ian Bremmer, on his official Twitter account.

The Christ the Redeemer statue is a popular tourist destination in Brazil; however, because of the rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths, the famous tourist attraction was momentarily closed.

Aggregate data from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that Brazil has more than 22,000 coronavirus confirmed cases with 1,241 deaths recorded.

Fighting this pandemic requires manpower and many, if not all, countries are already experiencing a shortage in frontline healthcare workers. To address this issue, Brazil had reportedly called up reinforcements from the country’s medical students.

Brazil’s Health Ministry previously planned to tap in the retired doctors to help the battle against coronavirus pandemic; however, consideration for their ages —old people being vulnerable/susceptible to the disease— played a big part in shutting down the idea, according to news of The Brazilian Report. Instead of tapping the old ones, the government called up the psychology residents and sixth-year medical students.

Meanwhile, many medical experts reportedly fear that Brazil’s public health safety could be compromised because of President Jair Bolsonaro. This apprehension stemmed from President’s Bolsonaro’s perception toward the coronavirus pandemic crisis as he remains to be one of the four world leaders who undermines the virus’ threat, The Guardian reported.

In light of the growing health crisis, the collective opinion of people suggests that because of the measures taken to fight the novel coronavirus pandemic, Mother Earth is starting to heal. In Brazil, one Twitter user posted a snap of Christ the Redeemer statue amid the quarantine period, saying that because there was less pollution, the famous statue could now be seen along with the giant moon.