Published 12:27 IST, July 20th 2020
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro greets supporters despite being COVID-19 positive; Watch
After testing positive for COVID-19 twice, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro not only took a walk on the grounds of his residence on but also greeted supporters.
After testing positive for COVID-19 twice, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro not only took a walk on the grounds of his residence on July 19 but also greeted the supporters. The video was broadcasted live on Bolsonaro’s official Facebook page where he can be seen wearing a mask. However, the COVID-19 positive president of the country addressed the crowd, that was consistently not socially distanced, by slightly lowering the mask off his face and only separated by a small water canon.
At one instance, two supporters of Bolsonaro crossed over to the side of presidential palace after one helped the another, who appeared specially-abled to walk close to Bolsonaro for greetings. While replying to the pair, the Brazilian President said “Thank you for the trust. I want to make a government for you all.” Bolsonaro’s supporters were seen enthusiastic and cheered for their coronavirus positive leader when the death toll of COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil has surpassed 79,000 and total infections are nearing three million.
Moreover, in the same interaction with the crowd, Jair Bolsonaro raised a small box which appeared to be medicine and showing it to his supporters. During the coronavirus outbreak, while most health experts have warned against the usage of anti-viral drug hydroxychloroquine, Brazil President has not only allowed its treatment on pregnant women and children infected with COVID-19 but has also said that he has taken its doses since contracting the disease earlier this month.
However, Bolsonaro promoting the medicines on July 19 came just a day after the Brazilian Society of Infectious Disease issued a report for medical professionals to halt the use of the drug on COVID-19 patients. Watch the entire interaction of Bolsonaro with his supporters:
Hospitals struggling to cope up with patient-influx
As Brazil has now emerged to be the second most-virus affected country in the world, the hospitals in the Latin American country has struggling to cope up with the drastic increase in the patient influx. According to reports, public hospitals across the nation are lacking basic medical equipment hence posing a threat to the health of the people. Many hospitals in Brazil have no intensive care units (ICU) for patients severely ill by the disease and need immediate assistance. According to the Brazilian health ministry, the disease is currently present in 97.4% of municipalities across the country.
Updated 12:27 IST, July 20th 2020