Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The president who had previously dismissed the disease as a “little flu” – said he began feeling unwell on Sunday but insists his condition has improved since having treatment.
He said he is taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin.
On Monday, he announced he had taken a test and told CNN Brazil that he underwent an X-ray of his lungs at a military hospital as a precaution.
Local media said he had cleared his schedule for the week.
Since the beginning of the virus outbreak, Bolsonaro has minimized the risks of what he initially called “a little flu” and flouted social distancing rules and containment measures, such as wearing a mask in public.
More than 65,000 people in Brazil have died with coronavirus so far and more than 1.5 million cases have been recorded – the world’s second-highest totals.
Brazil’s cities and states last month began lifting restrictions that had been imposed to control the spread of the virus.
