Brazil's First Lady Tests Positive for COVID-19

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro's wife has been tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to an official statement on Thursday.

This was just after Bolsonaro himself had overcome COVID-19 with a negative test result after weeks of being in quarantine.

"First lady Michelle Bolsonaro tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. She is in good health and will follow all established protocols," the official statement was quoted in a report.

Bolsonaro Tested Positive

Brazil's president announced on July 7 that he had been diagnosed with the coronavirus. He then spent his confinement in the presidential palace for more than two weeks.

He announced that he tested negative on Saturday.

Bolsonaro said during the time he was sick; he took hydroxychloroquine. He was known to promote the use of the said drug to treat COVID-19 despite the lack of studies.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug that was dropped by health organizations after studies found it was ineffective in treating the virus alongside dangerous side effects.

Bolsonaro believed the drug had stopped his high temperature, one of the COVID-19 symptoms he experienced.

"Today I'm a lot better, so certainly it's working," Bolsonaro was quoted in a Forbes report.

In April, Brazil's president dismissed former health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta due to reported disagreements on using the drug as a COVID-19 treatment.

Reports said that Mandetta's successor Nelson Teich had said the former health minister resigned less than a month after Bolsonaro pushed him to promote the drug.

Cabinet Members Tested Positive

Brazil's science and technology minister, Marcos Pontes, announced on Thursday that his test had come back positive. This makes him the fifth minister in Bolsonaro's administration to be diagnosed with the disease.

Pontes said he was quarantining and working remotely. He added that he is well, but he is experiencing a few flu symptoms and a headache.

Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni announced in Jul. 20 that he has also got the virus. He was also promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.

Brazil and COVID-19

On Jul. 10, reports said that local officials across Brazil are loosening isolation orders even as confirmed cases surge due to pressure from Bolsonaro.

With its three million residents, Brasilia reported its first COVID-19 case in March, a 52-year-old who came back from Britain and Switzerland.

Brasilia's death toll climbed slowly. On May 27, malls reopened, causing a significant increase in the number of cases and deaths.

A nurse working in the emergency wing at Ceilandia's main hospital said that it is a chaos and a living hell.

Brazil reopened in Jul. 29 international travel to foreign tourists, according to reports. International travel had been banned since March. This despite the ever-increasing number of COVID-19 cases, which deemed the country as the world's second-worst.

Travelers from all countries are welcome in Brazil as long as they have health insurance during the duration of their trip.

The country is reopening its air borders faster than any country in the region with fewer outbreaks, such as Colombia, Argentina, Panama, and Peru.

Brazil has a total number of 2.61 million confirmed cases, with 1.82 million recoveries, and 91, 377 deaths.

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