Brazil: After weeks of clashes, President Jair Bolsonaro sacks Health Minister

After ongoing clashes on the country's response to deal with novel coronavirus crisis, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sacked country's Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta on Thursday.

Mandetta, in a Twitter post, announced his removal after a meeting with Bolsonaro at the presidential palace in the capital Brasilia.

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Both the leaders' relations soured since the crisis began which has so far killed nearly 2,000 people with over 30,000 cases in the country, the highest in Latin America.

Bolsonaro sharply slammed isolation measures and shut down, while the Health Ministry under Mandetta regularly provided guidance to encourage social distancing. the former health minister's daily briefings had also contradicted on Bolsonaro's appreciation for unproven medications.

Soon after Mandetta's post, several people in the country banged their pots and pans to protest against the decision.

Earlier this month, at least 76 per cent of Brazilians rated "good" or "great" on a survey over the response of the Health Ministry to tackle the epidemic, according to pollster Datafolfa.

Following the pot-banging protests, Bolsonaro in televised remarks said that Mandetta didn't fully appreciate the need to save jobs in the country and once again insisted on the resumption of economic activities.

In his closing comments to the officials of the Health Ministry, Mandetta called for a smooth transition and warned that country is still far way from the peak of COVID-19 outbreak.

Oncologist Nelson Teich is likely to replace Mandetta, according to the Brazilian media.

(With AFP, Reuters inputs)