This article was first published on the 7th of July, 2020 by Patrick Carpen.
Last updated: July 7, 2020 at 16:50 pm
President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has today, 7th of July, 2020, confirmed that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus – COVID-19. The president took the test after he started displaying symptoms of the virus over the weekend. This comes after Mr. Bolsonaro attended a 4th of July gathering with the United States Ambassador to Brazil, among others.
The Brazilian president has been strongly criticized for downplaying the severity of the coronavirus pandemic. He has attended anti-lockdown rallies where people attend large gatherings without mask to protest against a lockdown of the country. He has wrestled with other officials within and without his government who wanted a more effective lockdown of the country. Mr. Bolsonaro had even gone as far as calling the coronavirus a “little flu” and said that he is not afraid of the coronavirus due to his athletic history.
Further, Mr. Bolsonaro, following Trump’s model, has ordered the use of hydroxycloroquine to treat coronavirus cases claiming that he is sure that it would cure it. While hydroxycloroquine did prove effective in fighting the coronavirus, severe side effects, including cardiac arrest, have caused the Trump administration to strike out the recommendation of the medication. Nevertheless, the Brazilian president continues to recommend hydroxychloroquine and even went as far as doing a little advertisement for the medication by saying that he will use it to treat himself.
The coronavirus has claimed the lives over 65,000 people in Brazil so far with over 1 million confirmed cases. However, scientists say that because of lack of testing, that number needs to be multiplied by 10 to give you an idea of how many people have likely been infected by the coronavirus in Brazil. We can say then that an estimated 10,000,000 people in Brazil might very well have caught the coronavirus at some time – and the numbers continue to climb daily.
Over the past two months, residents of all states across Brazil have been required to wear a mask when in public places, aside from practicing social distancing. Stores, commercial banks and other businesses limit the amount of persons who can enter the premises to one at a time. In addition to that, all employees are required to wear masks. Further, hand sanitizers are everywhere.
Nevertheless, the coronavirus continues to spread in mysterious ways – supporting arguments that it is possible that the virus can spread through the air as well as food products.
Related: Coronavirus by Country Report
