The President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, announced on Tuesday July 7 that he had tested positive for Covid-19. On Monday, he revealed that he had certain symptoms, including fever, and underwent a test – an X-ray of the lungs at the Armed Forces Hospital.
He announced the result in a television interview in which he claimed "Feel perfectly good":
"I had 38 degrees of fever, but my lungs were clean. The doctors gave me hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (an antibiotic) and after that I felt better. I'm perfectly fine. "
"No need to panic"
“As president, I am always on the front line. Life goes on, you have to be careful with the elderly, but don't panic ”, insisted Jair Bolsonaro. "I admit that I thought I had been infected before without experiencing any symptoms (…). If I hadn't tested, I could have infected people. " Bolsonaro said he would now work as much as possible "By videoconference".
Knowing that he was ill did not prevent him from removing the protective mask he was wearing, at the end of the interview with the journalists: "So you can see my face and see that I'm fine!" "
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO) wished, Tuesday, a "Rapid recovery" to the Brazilian president. "No country is immune, no country is immune, and no individual can be immune", said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, while WHO's health emergency manager Michael Ryan said "Prince or poor, we are all equally vulnerable" facing the virus.
"Like a little flu, a little cold"
Since the start of the pandemic, the Brazilian president, 65, has minimized the disease and participated in several public events without wearing a mask, while criticizing the isolation measures implemented in several states. "Given my athletic background, if I was infected with the virus, I wouldn't have to worry. I would not feel anything. At worst, it would be like a little flu, a little cold ”, he said in late March on a TV address.
On Saturday, he again posted photos on Facebook on which he appears with his face uncovered in the company of several ministers and the American ambassador to Brasilia, at a reception on the occasion of the United States National Day. On Monday, he vetoed two sections of the law on the use of masks in public places.
Brazil is the country most affected by the pandemic, behind the United States, with to date 1.6 million cases of Covid-19 for 65,487 deaths.
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