BRAZIL’S president, Jair Bolsonaro, has tested positive for COVID-19, adding in a television interview that he was in good health despite running a fever.
The right-wing populist, who has played down the severity of the virus, which he has called a “little flu,” took the test on Monday after developing symptoms.
In the interview broadcast on state-run TV Brasil, Bolsonaro said he began feeling ill on Sunday and has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with unproven effectiveness against COVID-19.
“There’s no reason for fear. That’s life,” the president said, wearing a mask, outside his official residence. “Life goes on. I thank God for my life and the role I’ve been given to decide the future of this great nation that is called Brazil.”
Brazil has the world’s second-largest outbreak behind the U.S., with more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and 65,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Bolsonaro had repeatedly defied local
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