SAO PAULO / RIO DE JANEIRO – The wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and one of his ministers tested positive for COVID-19, according to an official statement on Thursday, as the spread of the new coronavirus showed no signs of slowing down in the country with the the second worst outbreak in the world after the United States.
A few days after her husband said he had overcome the virus with a negative test after weeks in quarantine, Bolsonaro’s wife Michelle tested positive, the presidential office said in a statement.
“First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. She is in good health and will follow all established protocols,” she said, referring to the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
Early Thursday, Brazil’s science and technology minister Marcos Pontes said his test had tested positive, making him the fifth minister in the Bolsonaro government to be diagnosed with the disease.
His infections are a palpable sign of the magnitude of the outbreak in Brazil, which set new daily records on Wednesday for new cases of COVID-19 and related deaths.
The 69,074 new confirmed cases and 1,595 additional deaths reported by the Ministry of Health, pushed the country more than 2.5 million infections and 90,000 deaths.
Pontes made his announcement on Facebook, saying he was quarantined and working remotely.
“I just tested positive for the new coronavirus,” he said. “I’m fine, just a little flu symptoms and a headache.”
