Coronavirus could be the new fake news, and the risk of self-sabotage is real.

The Secretary of Communications for the Presidency, Fábio Wajngarten, has tested positive for the coronavirus. The advisor to the President accompanied him on a recent trip to the United States, where he likely contracted the disease, which places Jair Bolsonaro as a suspected case of having the virus that is terrifying the world.

If Bolsonaro contracts the virus, he will, like every citizen, have to quarantine, which would cause his vice president, General Mourão, to assume the functions of the highest office in the country at a critical moment for democracy. After all, the demonstration, which openly promotes a self-coup, is scheduled for March 15th, and the removal of the incumbent from office could be a perfect fit for the anti-democratic plot.

Let's just remember: when was the last time Bolsonaro had to relinquish the presidency for an extended period due to health reasons? At another critical moment for democracy, during the election period. The stabbing that the then-candidate for the PSL party allegedly suffered at a rally in Minas Gerais removed him from the debates, placed him in the position of a victim, and opened space for Mourão, someone intellectually far superior, to take over the interviews and lead the end of the campaign, which ended victoriously, with help from Steve Bannon and fake news via WhatsApp.

When Bolsonaro was hospitalized due to the, I repeat, alleged stabbing, Mourão, in an interview with Globonews, drew attention by addressing the issue of a self-coup. He said it wasn't unusual, that it had already happened in several countries, although it hadn't happened in Brazil. He also said, at the time, that he was a vice president who served as a "shield" against coups for Jair Bolsonaro.

The President didn't call for that demonstration on the 15th by chance. He's without a party, has a terrible relationship with the media, and his economic data, which is disappointing at best, is also displeasing the market. His fight with Congress is open. Most of his packages have been watered down in the parliamentary houses, and yesterday, Wednesday, his disrepute became even more evident when Congress overturned his veto on increasing the family income requirement for access to the BPC (Continuous Benefit Program).

The advantages of a quarantine don't end there. Everyone knows that Bolsonaro doesn't control the armed forces. The Navy opposes him, and within the army itself he faces resistance from those who aren't part of the so-called "old guard." But Mourão, a General who was on active duty until deciding to pursue a political career, has good relations with all the military, a segment of society that is most fueling the protests.

Without physically appearing, Bolsonaro would look like a victim in a possible self-coup. He would watch a possible self-coup from his hospital bed at the Armed Forces Hospital, the scope and extent of which we don't know. The Governor of the Federal District, Ibaneis Rocha, suspended classes for 5 days in public and private schools in the Federal District. He suspended a public competition, but did not suspend the demonstration. Something is not right in the country of the coup.