Conflicting Reports: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro Insists He Tested Negative for Coronavirus

Earlier reports said that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive for coronavirus.

Now he is adamantly denying he tested positive and insists he does not have the virus.

I blogged yesterday that Bolsonaro’s press secretary already tested positive. The news raised concerns because Bolsonaro and the secretary spent time with President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend.

So the reports of a positive test came out a few hours ago. Bolsonaro’s son Eduardo at first “appeared to confirm this to Fox News earlier Friday, adding that further testing was being done to confirm the diagnosis and the second set of testing was expected later in the day.”

But now Eduardo is denying everything:

Host Sandra Smith asked Bolsonaro if he could confirm his father had first tested positive for the virus and what had happened in between then.“I don’t have this information,” he replied. “The information I have is the results that just came up telling that he is negative for coronavirus. I never listened that it was positive in the first exam. This is something that I don’t know. But, uh, everything’s good now.”Bolsonaro then told Smith, to his knowledge, this was his first test for the virus.“I have to get more information about what is going on because together with Bolsonaro, there were other guys, other people in the same team that went to the U.S. So, we are also waiting for the exams about the other guys.”He denied his father was showing any symptoms. “He is okay,” he confirmed.“They have to see what they are going to do. I think the best thing to do is everybody who was involved there, everybody who was there, should do the tests,” Bolsonaro advised, referring to the Brazilian president’s meeting with President Trump.“Has there been communication with the White House on this?” asked Smith. Bolsonaro said that the president’s team has “connected” with the White House.Bolsonaro then told Smith, to his knowledge, this was his first test for the virus.“I have to get more information about everything — what is going on. Because, together with President Bolsonaro, there were other guys, other people in the same team that went to the U.S. So, we are also waiting for the exams about the other guys.”He denied his father was showing any symptoms.“No. He is okay,” he confirmed. However, he said he believed his father was taking extra precautions after an aide that went on the trip tested positive.

Tags: Brazil, Donald Trump, Wuhan Coronavirus

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