MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th March, 2020) The National Union of Students (UNE) in Brazil has canceled planned street protests scheduled for March 18, due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, but students will remain on strike, the union announced in a statement on Friday.
"It has been decided to postpone street protests on the 18th [of March] due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 in Brazil, in order to limit public gatherings as recommended by the World Health Organization and the [Brazilian] Health Ministry, but strikes and other stoppages will continue," the UNE statement read.
Leading universities in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have already announced that classes would be suspended from Monday, in order to contain the spread of the disease.
On Friday evening, the Brazilian Health Ministry reported that 98 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country, an increase of 22 in the previous 24 hours.
Presidential communications secretary Fabio Wajngarten has tested positive for the disease, and President Jair Bolsonaro has also undergone testing for COVID-19, announcing earlier in the day that he had not contracted the disease, despite earlier media reports suggesting the opposite.
