Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called the governors of states and mayors of cities who have introduced quarantines to contain the outbreak of coronavirus tyrants, the BBC reports.

Addressing supporters at his birthday celebrations in Brasilia, he said his government had done everything it could and it was time to reopen the economy.

Last week, the country's leading health institute warned of the historic collapse of Brazil's health care system. It was noted that intensive care units in hospitals had exhausted their capacity.

Bolsonar, who turned 66 on Sunday, has consistently opposed quarantine measures, arguing that the collateral damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the virus.

Earlier this month, the president called on Brazilians to stop whining over the pandemic.

Brazil has the second highest number of Covid-related deaths in the world, behind only the United States.

More than 294,000 people have died since the start of the pandemic, with nearly 12 million confirmed infections in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 2,200 people die from Covid in Brazil every day. The latest spike in cases has been linked to the spread of highly contagious variants of the virus.