Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday that he tested negative for COVID-19 after at least three other results since July 7 indicated he had been infected with the virus.
The right-wing leader who previously downplayed the disease posted on social media on Saturday that it had been “negative” along with a greeting of “BOM DIA A TODOS” or “GOOD MORNING FOR EVERYONE” in Portuguese. The posts were accompanied by a photo of Bolsonaro holding a hydroxychloroquine packet that he attributed to his rapid recovery.
The Food and Drug Administration warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial drug, although President Donald Trump previously touted it as a potential silver bullet for the coronavirus.
While Trump doesn’t mention the drug as often, Bolsonaro, who describes himself as populist, has maintained his support for the drug.
“We know today that there are other remedies that can help fight the coronavirus. We know that none of them have their scientifically proven efficacy, but I am one more person for whom this is working. Therefore, I trust hydroxychloroquine,” he said previously.
The 65-year-old president has gone further, dismissing the disease that has killed hundreds of thousands as nothing more than a “little flu.”
Those who disagree with Bolsonaro in Brazil, meanwhile, have been fired or earned their anger. He has withdrawn two health ministers since April and criticized governors and mayors whose blockade measures he considered too strict.
Brazil is second only to the United States in terms of the number of cases and deaths caused by the coronavirus. The country’s government reported on Friday that it had more than 2.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 85,000 deaths from the virus.
