Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for Coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on July 7 2020. Bolsonaro had earlier played down the severity of the virus calling it a little flu. He had taken the test on July 6 after developing the symptoms. 

Bolsonaro took the test, his fourth after getting a high fever. Currently, he is in good health despite running a fever. He had begun feeling unwell on July 5. 

The Brazilian President had been taking hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug, the effectiveness of which is yet unknown against COVID-19.

Little Flu?

•  The Brazilian President had reportedly opposed lockdowns to contain coronavirus, as he felt it could hurt the economy. He has continued to regularly play down and ignored the risks of Coronavirus pandemic calling it a little flu. 

•  Bolsonaro has argued that regional lockdowns have a more damaging effect than the virus itself and he also accused the media of spreading panic and paranoia. He had said that there are other kinds of flu that have killed more people than coronavirus. 

•  Bolsonaro had expressed confidence that since Brazil has a tropical climate, they have reached the end of the pandemic, as the virus doesn’t spread as fast in a warm climate like theirs. This is ironic considering Brazil has the second-highest number of Coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, just after the US.

Jair Bolsonaro tests COVID positive

•  Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced that he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 7. He said that his fever had gone down and that he felt very well. Bolsonaro had started experiencing symptoms on July 5. He had a high temperature, a cough and had felt unwell. On July 6, he had felt worse, which had forced him to take the COVID test. 

•  Bolsonaro is in a higher-risk group as he is 65 years old. He had been taking hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, an antibiotic, to treat the illness. None of the drugs are clinically proven to be effective against the virus.

•  Following the President’s positive result, contact tracing will be carried out to trace all the people who came in touch with him recently and their tests will be carried out. The President had taken four tests in total. His previous three tests had come back negative.

Background 

Brazil had become the second country in the world to pass one million COVID cases on June 20, 2020. The coronavirus cases have continued to rise exponentially in the nation, passing 1.5 million. Brazil currently has a total of 16,74,655 confirmed coronavirus cases, among whom 10,72,229 have recovered and 66,868 died.

Despite the surge in cases, lockdowns have begun to be lifted in many areas. Restaurants and bars have reopened in both Rio and São Paulo. Brazil’s two major vaccine tests, in partnership with AstraZeneca and Sinovac, are scheduled to begin final phase testing on thousands of Brazilian volunteers.