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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for coronavirus after months of downplaying the virus's severity.
Key points:
- Mr Bolsonaro began feeling ill on Sunday and was tested on Monday
- It's the fourth time he has been tested for the virus
- He has repeatedly played down the severity of the disease, calling it a "little flu"
Mr Bolsonaro confirmed the news while wearing a mask in a television interview on Tuesday (local time) and said he was beginning treatment, which included taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and antibiotic azithromycin.
"I'm well, normal. I even want to take a walk around here, but I can't due to medical recommendations," he told reporters in the capital Brasilia.
Brazil currently has the second-highest number of confirmed cases worldwide with more than 1.6 million recorded and more than 65,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Mr Bolsonaro, who has played down the severity of the disease, which he has in the past called a "little flu", received his latest test after reportedly developing symptoms associated with COVID-19, including a fever, on Sunday.
This is the fourth coronavirus test he has taken — the first three had come back negative.
He is at least the fourth world leader to test positive for COVID-19.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was treated in intensive care in April and has since recovered, Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam tested positive in April and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez announced last week he was resuming work after being hospitalised with the virus.
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he hoped Mr Bolsonaro's symptoms would be "mild" and that he would be back in office as soon as possible to support his country.
Bolsonaro's defiance in face of COVID-19
The Brazilian President has repeatedly defied guidelines to wear a mask in public, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June.
Mr Bolsonaro has also railed against social distancing regulations supported by the WHO.
The 65-year-old has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask.
He also repeatedly said that there was no way to prevent 70 per cent of the population falling ill with COVID-19, and that local authorities' measures to shut down economic activity would ultimately cause more hardship than allowing the virus to run its course.
Mr Bolsonaro on Tuesday repeated those sentiments, comparing the virus to a rain that will fall on most people, and that some, like the elderly, must take greater care.
Mr Bolsonaro said he had cancelled a trip to the north-east region of the country that was planned for this week.
He would continue working via videoconference and receive rare visitors when he needed to sign a document, he said.
Over the weekend, Mr Bolsonaro attended several events and was in close contact with US Ambassador Todd Chapman during July 4 celebrations — pictures showed neither wearing a mask.
The US embassy in Brasilia said via Twitter on Monday that the ambassador had lunch on July 4 with Mr Bolsonaro, five ministers and the President's son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro.
The ambassador had no symptoms, but would undergo testing and was "taking precautions", the embassy said.
Latin America crisis deepens
Latin America and the Caribbean now account for 50 per cent of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, and the number of registered cases continues to accelerate, the WHO's regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday.
"This is a pandemic of staggering proportions and we have no option but to continue to put all our energy into controlling it," she said in a virtual briefing from Washington with Pan American Health Organization directors.
PAHO wished Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro a speedy recovery from his positive test result for COVID-19.
"The message is that this virus in unpredictable and does not respect race, class or people in power, despite security around any president," said PAHO director for communicable diseases Marcos Espinal.
He added that for Brazil, the infection of its President should reinforce the need to strengthen implementations of social distancing recommendations and the use of masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
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