Journalist Marcelo Pereira has been off the air since December 26th and has become a mystery at Globo itself. The presenter of the weather show Hora 1 do Bom Dia Brasil had to be hospitalized twice in four days. Only this Wednesday (10), a week after the first scare, did the broadcaster's communications department publish a statement about the state of health of its employee.
The press office reproduced to the press a medical bulletin from the Hospital e Maternidade Ribeirão Pires, which stated that the journalist was admitted to the institution on Saturday (6) with abdominal pain and blood pressure problems.
Globo also reported that Thais Luquesi will replace Pereira on the schedule until he resumes his duties.
“The Ribeirão Pires Hospital and Maternity Unit informs that the patient Marcelo da Silva Pereira was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on January 6 with abdominal pain and mild hemodynamic instability,” the bulletin said.
“His clinical condition improved and after compensation he was able to be transferred to the inpatient department on Tuesday (9). The patient remains in the inpatient department with no expectation of discharge but in a stable condition,” he added.
The question that concerns Globo colleagues is that Pereira's first hospitalization did not take place on Saturday. Four days earlier, in the early hours of Wednesday (3) morning, he was at the station preparing to resume duty at Hora 1 after the New Year break when he fell ill. The malaise was reported firsthand by the website TV Pop on the 7th and confirmed by TV news with Globo Communications.
The journalist was taken to hospital by ambulance, standard procedure for professionals who feel ill at Globo. Reporter Eliezer dos Santos was rushed in to take over the day's weather forecast as the Thais would not arrive at the station's newsroom in time to go on air. Tiago Scheuer was asked to cover the card on Bom Dia Brasil.
Pereira was fired shortly afterwards but did not return to work for rest the next day. At the weekend he was visiting his mother in Mauá, greater São Paulo, when he felt unwell again and was taken to hospital in Ribeirão Pires, where he remains.
Editorial colleagues were concerned about Pereira's condition as he had not responded to the team's contacts since his first hospitalization last Wednesday. Without any news, experts began to speculate about other much more serious reasons for the hospitalization.
O TV news tried to contact Marcelo Pereira via WhatsApp messages this Wednesday. He did not respond to the messages but reviewed them and contacted Globo Communications to comment on his behalf.