Coronavirus: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro Tests Positive For COVID-19 After Downplaying It

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19 after downplaying it for months.

President Jair Bolsonaro who has previously dismissed the disease as a “little flu” - said he began feeling sick on Sunday.

Bolsonaro who has previously dismissed COVID-19 as a “little flu” - said he started feeling sick on Sunday but he insists taht his condition has improved since having started treatment.

President Bolsonaro said he is taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin.

While wearing a face mask, Jair Bolsonaro told reporters:

“I’m well, normal,”

“I even want to take a walk around here, but I can’t due to medical recommendations.”

Following his diagnosis, Mr Bolsonaro has cancelled a planned trip to the Brazilian state of Bahia.

He has spent months downplaying the severity of COVID-19 coronavirus and he has often appeared in public shaking hands with his supporters and mingling with crowds, at times without a face mask.