BRASLIA: Brazil´s President Jair Bolsonaro announced on Tuesday he had tested positive for the coronavirus but said he was feeling “perfectly well” and had only mild symptoms. The far right leader has caused huge controversy in Brazil for repeatedly flouting containment measures and minimizing the risk of the virus, which has killed 65,000 people in the South American giant and infected 1.6 million.
The test “has come out and it´s positive,” Bolsonaro said in a television interview from his residence in the capital Brasilia, adding that he was taking hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat the illness.
Hydroxychloroquine is a medication usually used to treat malaria and lupus, while azithromycin is an antibiotic that can be used to treat pneumonia. At 65, Bolsonaro is in one of the highest risk categories for a virus that has killed more than half a million people worldwide and infected close to 12 million. Bolsonaro said he started feeling unwell on Sunday and got worse on Monday, feeling “tiredness, illness and a fever of 38 degrees” Celsius (100.4 Fahrenheit). But he insisted he was feeling “good, calm” and took off his face mask to emphasize the point.