Brazil President, Who Had Refused to Wear Masks & Took Hydroxychloroquine, Tested Positive for COVID-19

Unlike Santa Claus, the coronavirus exists whether you believe in it or not.

Back in March, when-

Young Reader: Wait, Santa Claus doesn’t exist?

Uh… well, you see-

Young Reader: *starts sobbing*

Back in March, when Covid-19 was on its way to world domination, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro continued to downplay the severity of the virus outbreak, calling it a media trick.

He dismissed concerns about the virus’ dangers as media “hysteria” and called the illness a “little flu”.

He said: “The people will soon see that they were tricked by these governors and by the large part of the media when it comes to coronavirus”.

These comments were made four months ago, when Brazil had 1,546 infections and 25 deaths.

Unsurprisingly, his indifference to the pandemic backfired and led to a full-blown disaster in the country.

Now, Brazil has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, with 1,674,655 infections and 66,868 deaths.

And, ironically, one of them is Bolsonaro himself.

Brazil President Tests Positive for COVID-19

On Tuesday (7 July), Bolsonaro confirmed in a television interview that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, adding that he was in good health despite running a fever.

The right-wing leader told reporters he started feeling sick at the weekend.

“It started on Sunday with a certain malaise and became worse throughout the day on Monday, feeling poorly, exhaustion, a bit of muscle ache, fever hit 38 [degrees Celsius],” he said.

At the end of the interview, he removed his mask, smiled, and said: “You can see from my face that I’m well and I’m calm.”

Bolsonaro said he has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that has been touted by US president Donald Trump as an effective treatment for Covid-19 even though there’s no scientific evidence to support his claim.

According to Reuters, Bolsonaro has repeatedly refused to wear masks, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June.

He has also criticised social distancing measures supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

If this sounds like what a certain US president would do, there’s a reason for that.

Bolsonaro is an open admirer of Trump and engages in the same sort of rhetoric and controversy we commonly associate with the US president, which is why some have labelled him the ‘Trump of the Tropics’.

The authorities in Brazil are now scrambling to trace those who have been in close contact with Bolsonaro recently, including Economy Minister Paulo Guedes.

According to one political analyst, Bolsanaro has been telling people to stay away and keep their distance ever since he tested positive, so maybe he’s talking the pandemic a little more seriously now?

“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”.

Oh.