Brazil's states blast Bolsonaro over virus

Disgruntled with President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, 16 Brazilian governors have accused the far-right leader of misleading them as authorities urge a nationwide curfew and airport closure.

A year after Brazil's COVID-19 outbreak began, it has killed over 255,000 people and yet little more than 3 per cent of the 210 million population has been vaccinated, raising criticism of Bolsonaro's failure to secure timely vaccine supplies.

Last week was the nation's deadliest, averaging nearly 1200 confirmed deaths per day.

Intensive care units in main cities have reached critical occupancy levels not seen since the first pandemic peak last July.

State governors have again adopted restrictions limiting all but essential services, including in Brazil's capital, Brasilia, which decreed a 24-hour lockdown.

Bolsonaro, who has played down the gravity of the virus and said it was fine if people refused vaccination, turned up his attacks on the governors in recent days, saying they were destroying jobs.

Over the weekend, he, his sons and some government ministers accused the governors of not having properly used federal funds to tackle the pandemic.

"Closing a city or state so you can say you're doing something is like being an anonymous dictator," said federal Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the president's eldest son, on Monday.

"A lockdown is a sign of a poor manager."

Sixteen of Brazil's 26 state governors, including three who are Bolsonaro allies, issued a public retort on Monday in which they said the president was lying to the nation and providing false data on federal funding.

Hours later the national association of state health secretaries CONASS criticised the federal government for the lack of co-ordination across the country in fighting COVID-19.

They complained of a piecemeal approach by each state and city, calling for a national curfew and the closure of airports to stop the spread of the virus.

"The whole country is collapsing, all the states," said Joao Gabbardo, head of the COVID-19 task force in Sao Paulo.

"We cannot continue facing this pandemic without a unified approach and a single direction given to the public."