Bolsonaro stroll outside palace during virus recovery

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, who's tested positive for coronavirus, took a stroll Tuesday in the garden of his official residence, the Alvorada Palace, where he's in isolation.

During his walk, Bolsonaro talked with members of his staff and watched the emus that roam the palace grounds,

The president, 65, said last week that he had experienced fever, aches and malaise.

He scrapped a trip he had planned to northeastern Piauí state, and all his meetings for the week were converted to video calls.

After months in which he downplayed COVID-19 by flouting social distancing recommendations and mostly shunning masks, both coronavirus precautions became part of his cloistered life at the official residence in the capital Brasilia.

Bolsonaro took hydroxychloroquine pills for five days, Monday through Friday, according to a source in the presidential medical team.

The drug has no proven effect on the treatment of COVID-19 and can cause side effects such as cardiac arrhythmia, according to medical studies.

As a result, Bolsonaro was given electrocardiograms and blood tests, the source said.

Brazil's presidential press office said in a statement that the president has experienced no medical problems with his treatment.