Brazilian President Bolsonaro: “I test positive for COVID-19, but I’m well and normal” [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil told reporters on Tuesday that he tested positive for COVID-19.
• Bolsonaro shared that he had undergone a lung X-ray on Monday but emphasized that he was already well after taking the hydroxychloroquine drug, despite experts’ warning that it’s not effective as a COVID-19 treatment.
• Bolsonaro said that he would rather have the virus run its course than to impose restrictions and shut down the economy which he said would be more difficult for the country.

After months of belittling the coronavirus pandemic, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro told reporters in capital Brasilia on Tuesday, while wearing a mask, that he has tested positive for COVID-19.

“I’m well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can’t due to medical recommendations,” the president said. “I thought I had it before, given my very dynamic activity. I’m president and on the combat lines. I like to be in the middle of the people,” he said.

Bolsonaro also said that he was already taking the anti-malarian drug hydroxychloroquine, which, according to experts, has no proof of curing the disease.

The president further told the reporters that he had undergone a lung X-ray on Monday after experiencing fever, muscle aches and malaise. His fever dropped on Tuesday — which he attributed to the hydroxychloroquine drug. He continuously promoted the medicine despite public experts’ warning that it’s not effective.

At one point, he stepped back from the reporters and removed his mask, just to show that he was healthy.

Bolsonaro has often stay in public to mingle with people and his supporters, sometimes he’s not even wearing a mask. He said that he was a former athlete, and his built would protect him from COVID-19 — arguing that it would be nothing more than a “little flu.”

The president has been vocal ever since that there is no way to avoid 70 percent of Brazilians getting infected with coronavirus. As he allowed the virus to run its course, he argued that the local officials’ restrictive efforts would ultimately cause more difficulty for the country’s economy.

Bolsonaro repeated these remarks on Tuesday, in which he compared the virus to a rain that will pour on most people, and that some of them, such as the elderly, must take better precaution.

“You can’t just talk about the consequences of the virus that you have to worry about. Life goes on. Brazil needs to produce. You need to get the economy in gear,” he said.

Bolsonaro tested negative thrice after meeting with US President Donald Trump last March in Florida. Several of his delegated officials who attended were later found out to have contracted COVID-19.

In Brazil, over 1,500,000 people have been infected with coronavirus and 65,000 have died due to COVID-19. Globally, the country has the second-highest tally in cases and death tolls, and is even being tagged as undercounted because of the testing shortage.

Source: AOL.com