Bolsonaro has caught the virus
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for Covid19 after months of downplaying its severity.
The rightwing populist gave the news to reporters at his official residence standing just inches away from him, adding to criticism of his cavalier approach to the outbreak in Brazil, the world’s worst outside the US.
Even as he announced his infection, the 65yearold dismissed the dangers of the virus and credited unproven treatments for his mild symptoms, echoing his political role model US President Donald Trump.
‘‘If it weren’t for the test, I wouldn’t know the result. And it turned out positive,’’ he told reporters, adding he had started to feel sick on Monday and grown worse on Tuesday with a fever, muscle pains and exhaustion.
The president said he was taking hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug with unproven effectiveness against Covid19 that has been touted by Trump and progovernment factions in Brazil as a potential cure.
Finishing the interview, Bolsonaro stepped back and removed his mask to reveal a smile, adding: ‘‘You can see from my face that I’m well and I’m calm.’’
Bolsonaro has blasted experts at the World Health Organisation and voiced scepticism about the virulence of the virus. The Brazilian leader repeated his claim yesterday that the risks of Covid19 were exaggerated and most Brazilians did not need to worry: ‘‘Be assured that for you the chance of something more serious is close to zero.’’
He has regularly appeared in public without a mask and last weekend vetoed parts of a Bill that made the use of masks mandatory in public places.
With more than 1.6 million confirmed Covid19 cases in Brazil, Bolsonaro’s handling of the crisis has drawn criticism from public health experts as he has fought state and city efforts to impose social distancing, arguing that the economic damage would be worse than the disease itself. He has fired two health ministers — both trained doctors — during the pandemic, and replaced them with an army general on an interim basis.
Pan American Health Organisation director for communicable diseases Marcos Espinal wished Bolsonaro a ‘‘speedy recovery’’ but said his infection carried a message.
‘‘For Brazil, the infection of its president should reinforce the need to strengthen implementations of social distancing recommendations and the use of masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.’’