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President Bolsonaro of Brazil Tests Positive for Coronavirus President Bolsonaro of Brazil Tests Positive for Coronavirus
(about 1 hour later)
RIO DE JANEIRO — President Jair Bolsonaro, suffering symptoms of Covid-19, disclosed Tuesday that he has the coronavirus but doubled down on his assertion that the pandemic that has killed more than 65,000 Brazilians poses little risk to healthy people. RIO DE JANEIRO — President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has railed against social distancing measures and repeatedly downplayed the threat of the coronavirus as the epidemic in his country became the second-worst in the world, said Tuesday that he, too, has been infected.
Mr. Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the seriousness of the virus and undermined lockdown and social distancing measures, urging Brazilians to continue working and encouraging mass rallies of his supporters. Critics at home and abroad have called Mr. Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic cavalier and reckless, allowing the virus to surge across Brazil, Latin America’s largest nation. At one point he dismissed it as “a measly cold,” and when asked in late April about the rising death toll, he replied: “So what? Sorry, but what do you want me to do?”
At one point he dismissed the virus as “a measly cold,” and when asked in late April about the rising death toll, he replied: “So what? Sorry, but what do you want me to do?” As the caseload has skyrocketed, Mr. Bolsonaro has attended mass rallies in his support, shunned masks, insisted that the virus poses no threat to healthy people, championed unproven remedies and shuffled through health ministers who disagreed with him.
Critics at home and abroad have called Mr. Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic reckless, and news that he was infected ignited a new wave of indignation over government actions that gave the virus free rein in Latin America’s largest nation. Brazil has more confirmed cases, over 1.6 million, and more deaths than any country except the United States. Brazil now has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and more than 65,000 deaths — more than any country except the United States.
Mr. Bolsonaro, 65, characterized his diagnosis as a predictable outcome of a leadership style that requires that he be among the people, on the “front lines of the fight.” He compared the virus to “rain, which is going to get to you.” Speaking to journalists outside the presidential palace in Brasília shortly after noon on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro, said he had taken a test on Monday after experiencing fatigue, muscle pain and a fever.
He said he was feeling “very well,” which he credited to having taken hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug he has endorsed but which studies show does not ward off the virus. Covid-19 cases that become serious usually take a turn for the worse about a week after symptoms emerge.
Speaking to journalists outside the presidential palace in Brasília shortly after noon on Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro, said he had taken a test on Monday after experiencing fatigue, muscle pain and a fever. He said he was feeling well, which he credited to having taken hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug he has endorsed but which studies show does not ward off the virus. Mr. Bolsonaro did not express contrition for his handling of the pandemic, and voiced confidence that he would manage to work from home during the next few days while he recovers. He characterized the diagnosis as a predictable outcome of a leadership style that requires that he be among the people, on the “front lines of the fight.”
Mr. Bolsonaro did not express contrition for his handling of the pandemic, and voiced confidence that he would manage to work from home during the next few days while he recovers. He said he had long assumed he would catch the virus.
“Considering how much contact I have with the people, which was a lot during the past few months, I assumed I would have already caught it without developing symptoms,” he said. “Just like the majority of the Brazilian people who contract the virus and don’t perceive the problem.”“Considering how much contact I have with the people, which was a lot during the past few months, I assumed I would have already caught it without developing symptoms,” he said. “Just like the majority of the Brazilian people who contract the virus and don’t perceive the problem.”
The president insisted that he was “very well” and, standing just a few feet away from journalists took off his mask so reporters could see his face. “Thank you to all those who prayed for me, cheered for me. Those who have criticized, no problem, you can continue to criticize at will.” After taking questions from journalists, Mr. Bolsonaro stepped back a few feet, removed the mask he had been wearing and smiled. “Thank you to all those who prayed for me and rooted for me,” he said. “I’m fine, thank God. Those who have criticized me, that’s fine, they can continue to criticize me.”
Even as several of Mr. Bolsonaro’s aides have tested positive for the virus in recent months, the president has often eschewed precautions like wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.Even as several of Mr. Bolsonaro’s aides have tested positive for the virus in recent months, the president has often eschewed precautions like wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.
Most recently, Mr. Bolsonaro and a handful of his ministers attended a luncheon at the residence of Todd Chapman, the American ambassador in Brazil. Because attendees sat in close proximity during the 4th of July event, and refrained from wearing masks, Mr. Chapman has adopted precautionary measures, including alerting people he has been in contact with in recent days of his possible exposure to the virus. Most recently, Mr. Bolsonaro and a handful of his ministers attended a luncheon at the residence of Todd Chapman, the American ambassador in Brazil. Because attendees sat shoulder-to-shoulder during the 4th of July event, and refrained from wearing masks, Mr. Chapman has adopted precautionary measures, alerting people he has been in contact with of his possible exposure to the virus.
As Brazilians awaited the results of the president’s latest coronavirus test, messages posted on social media illustrated how politically polarized the country had become.As Brazilians awaited the results of the president’s latest coronavirus test, messages posted on social media illustrated how politically polarized the country had become.
Two trending hashtags on Twitter Tuesday morning were #ForçaBolsonaro and #ForçaCorona — the first sending the president strength and the other effectively expressing hope that the president would fall ill.Two trending hashtags on Twitter Tuesday morning were #ForçaBolsonaro and #ForçaCorona — the first sending the president strength and the other effectively expressing hope that the president would fall ill.
When she heard the news, Day Medeiros, a 31-one-year-old community activist in Santa Cruz, a working-class neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, said she was immediately worried about how Bolsonaro supporters there would receive it. Hers is one of the neighborhoods with the highest contingent of Bolsonaro voters in the city.
“My concern is that he will use this to say, ‘See, I’m fine, if you catch this you will survive,’” she said. “Everything that happens to him has real repercussions in how people behave here. This is really serious.”
Mr. Bolsonaro’s diagnosis is the latest challenge for a government that has been rocked in recent months by abrupt cabinet departures and a series of legislative and criminal investigations targeting the president and his relatives.
As the country’s coronavirus caseload ballooned, Mr. Bolsonaro fired his first health minister in April over disagreements about the response to the virus, and drove his second one to quit less than a month into the job.
Since mid-May, an active-duty army general with no experience in health care has headed the ministry, which has been faulted for failing to mount a robust testing and contact tracing strategy.
As the health crisis worsened, Mr. Bolsonaro sparred with governors and mayors who imposed loosely-enforced lockdowns and quarantines. Claiming that local officials were presenting an unduly grim picture of the pandemic, Mr. Bolsonaro in June called on supporters to break into hospitals and film what they saw.
Senator Alessandro Vieira, an opposition lawmaker, said he didn’t expect the president’s illness to change the government’s response.
“The best-case scenario would be for Bolsonaro to remain quiet for a few days,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll see any significant changes. Their denial is absolute, a bizarre thing.”
The president said on Tuesday that his illness does not alter his view that Brazilians need to continue working.
“There is no need to panic,” he said. “Life goes on.”
A bigger threat than the virus, he said, was failure to get workers back on the job in an economy that is expected to contract by up to 10 percent this year.
“Brazil needs to get back to work,” he said. “Otherwise the economy will enter a very complicated phase.”