President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was considering travel restrictions on Brazil, as South America’s most-populated country experiences a spike in coronavirus cases.

“We are considering it. We hope that we’re not going to have a problem,” Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting.

“Brazil has gone more or less herd,” Trump continued. “They’re having problems.”

According to Johns Hopkins University, Brazil currently has 275,087 cases of the virus as of Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. ET, with a death toll of 18,121. Brazil has the most cases in South America and the third-highest number of cases in the world behind the United States and Russia.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the threat of the virus in Brazil, calling it a “little flu.” He has feuded with state governors pushing lockdowns as a policy to prevent the spread of the virus. In April, Bolsonaro fired Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta over disagreements about social distancing policies. Bolsonaro then replaced Mandetta with oncologist and entrepreneur Nelson Teich.

Bolsonaro, like Trump, has promoted an unproven treatment called hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonaro’s advocacy of hydroxychloroquine, along with disagreements on other issues, has resulted in Teich’s resignation as Health Minister after less than a month at the job.

Trump and Bolsonaro have had a friendly relationship, with Trump claiming that he is helping Brazil with ventilators. "We're sending a lot of people. Brazil is having some trouble. No question about it," Trump said.

So far, Trump has implemented travel bans on China and the European Schengen Area to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Although Trump has touted the travel bans as effective in combating the virus, Trump has been criticized for his domestic response to the outbreak.

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