RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro reported on his official Facebook page that a test carried out at the Armed Forces Hospital came back negative for the new coronavirus.
Earlier, US TV station Fox News reported that a first test of the President would have come back positive, attributing the information to the President’s son, Federal Deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro.
“The HFA/SABIN certify that President Jair Bolsonaro has tested negative for the COVID-19”, published Bolsonaro himself on social media. The publication was coupled with a picture in which the president is depicted making a “banana” gesture towards journalists.
Fox News reported that Eduardo had stated earlier that the first test had been positive and that the Presidency was awaiting the result of the counter test.
On Twitter, Eduardo wrote that “the test has not been completed,” without making it clear whether he was talking about just one or two tests. Later, the network reported that Eduardo had provided contradictory reports. The deputy returned to Twitter and said that he “never spoke” to anyone in the press that the test had turned out to be positive.
The test was carried out by Bolsonaro after the Secretary of Communication, Fabio Wajngarten, was confirmed with the disease. He traveled with the president to the United States and spent a great deal of time at his side.
On Tuesday, March 10th, the President minimized the disease that is spreading worldwide and that one day later was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Much of what you have there is more fantasy, the coronavirus issue, which is not all that the big media is spreading,” he said at an event in Miami. On Monday, March 9th, he had already said that the spread of the disease was “overrated”.
The first lady, Michelle Bolsonaro, was also tested and the Estado newspaper has found that the result was also negative. Eduardo was also tested for coronavirus. On his Twitter, the president’s son stated that he, his father and the head of the President’s Institutional Security Office, General Angelo Heleno, tested negative for coronavirus.
After telling @FoxNews that his father had a preliminary POSITIVE test for coronavirus, Eduardo Bolsonaro now tells @FoxNews the test was NEGATIVE. Bolsonaro says he has been in touch with the White House. – John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) March 13, 2020
US delegation
Other members of the delegation that escorted Bolsonaro to the USA also ruled out the disease. Earlier, the tests conducted by the Minister of the Office of Institutional Security (GSI), General Augusto Heleno, came back negative for coronavirus.
Heleno missed this Friday morning’s meeting at the Planalto Palace, which discussed measures to tackle the spread of the coronavirus in the country. In addition, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, tested negative for the virus.
Chancellor Ernesto Araújo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived from Washington this morning and headed straight to his residence. He is to be tested today, with results expected tomorrow.
Members of the delegation reported to Estado newspaper that they were in voluntary isolation until the result was released. Newly appointed Special Secretary for Strategic Affairs, Admiral Flávio Rocha, and Special Advisor for International Affairs, Filipe Martins, are among those who continue working from home, with no symptoms. Both work on the Planalto’s third floor and are direct advisors to the President.
Another part of the delegation will be tested for coronavirus this afternoon. They also remain in isolation, as is the case of the special secretary of Fisheries, Jorge Seif Jr.
VISITS TO THE ALVORADA PALACE
Bolsonaro has been receiving visitors at the Alvorada Palace this Friday. The procedure is the same as on Thursday afternoon, March 12th: anyone coming into the official residence – as well as Bolsonaro’s security personnel – is given a surgical mask.
The use of these masks is recommended for individuals who are already ill and use them to avoid infecting others. The mask is the same worn by Bolsonaro yesterday on his traditional Thursday live broadcast. To avoid contagion, the N95 mask, the type worn by the Minister of Health, Henrique Mandetta, while accompanying Bolsonaro on the live broadcast, is recommended.
Earlier this Friday, the President was visited by the Special Secretary for Land Affairs, Nabhan Garcia. He arrived at the Palace around 7:40 AM and stayed for about an hour. Shortly after 10 AM, Minister Luiz Eduardo Ramos, of the Government Secretariat, and later Sergio Camargo, President of Palmares Cultural Foundation, arrived at the Alvorada Palace.
Ramos left at 11 AM, without a mask, and headed to the Planalto Palace, where the Ministers’ meeting on the measures regarding the coronavirus took place. Camargo is still meeting with Bolsonaro.