Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, is confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, but his son, Eduardo has tweeted to say that testing of the delegation that accompanied his father on a recent trip has not been completed, The Independent reported.
“Result of Jair Bolsonaro @jairbolsonaro for coronavirus it was NEGATIVE,” Eduardo tweeted.
A columnist for the Rio de Janeiro daily O Dia reported that the president’s first test had been positive, according to Reuters.
“He waits for the result of the counter-proof this Friday (13) to confirm the contamination. There is tension in the air. Despite spending quiet time on TV, and asking the people to avoid the streets (a clear cancellation of the call for Sunday’s pro-government demonstrations), Bolsonaro does not hide the evidence,” according to a translation in the local news outlet Jornal Odia.
“He appeared in a mask this morning and did not leave the Palácio da Alvorada, the official residence.”
Bolsonaro met on Saturday with President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Miami. Bolsonaro’s press secretary, who accompanied him and was pictured alongside Trump, also tested positive for the virus.
Both presidents have tried to downplay the threat of the dreaded virus, which has killed a reported 5,120 people globally and sickened 139,620 people. The World Health Organisation this week declared coronavirus a global pandemic.
Bolsonaro recently called the coronavirus pandemic a “fantasy,” New York Post reported.
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Trump joked about the public health panic, blamed the botched U.S. response on an “Obama rule”, and ordered some COVID-19 deliberations to be kept secret and classified.
“I’m not concerned,” Trump told reporters on Thursday after the Brazilian delegation’s coronavirus cases were reported.
Many other Republican officials have decided to self-isolate and get tested after similar potential exposures, but so far, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have not been tested for COVID-19.
