Coronavirus Infects Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, Test Report Shows 'Positive' For COVID-19: Local Media
The Brazilian head of state was suspected to have contracted the deadly virus after two of his close aides, including his communications chief, was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19.
Brasilia, March 13: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive to the novel coronavirus, local media reports said on Friday. The Brazilian head of state was suspected to have contracted the deadly virus after two of his close aides, including his communications chief, was confirmed to have been infected with COVID-19. UPDATE: Bolsonaro Trashes Media Reports, Says He Tested Negative For Coronavirus.
Fabio Wajngarten, the press secretary of Bolsonaro who has tested for novel coronavirus, had recently accompanied the Brazilian President for a bilateral visit to the United States. Fabio was part of the bilateral meetings held with US President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
After Fabio tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, Bolsonaro was forced to undergo the testing for novel coronavirus. If the latter is also detected with the ghastly disease, the pressure has escalated on US President Trump and V-P Pence to undergo the testing for novel coronavirus.
The White House had, however, ruled out conducting a test on Trump for coronavirus, claiming that he has showed no symptoms of COVID-19 so far. "No need for Trump coronavirus test after meeting infected Bolsonaro aide," said the statement issued by the official workplace of the American President.
Both Brazil and the US have been hit by the coronavirus outbreak. While Brasilia has confirmed the detection of 77 infected cases in the nation so far, the numbers are way higher in the United States, where 938 have tested positive for COVID-19 and 29 have succumbed to death.
Worldwide, the death toll due to novel coronavirus has touched the 5,000-mark, with the cases of fatalities subsiding in China and exponentially increasing in Italy. The number of infected patients across the globe had crossed the 1,00,000-mark earlier this week. The World Health Organisation had on Wednesday declared coronavirus as a global pandemic, which compelled most nations to go into self-quarantine mode.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 13, 2020 09:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).