Quarantine Extended For Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro After He Tests Positive For Coronavirus For The Third Time

Brazil's president Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the coronavirus for the third time. His quarantine has now been extended and he will continue to work from home.

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for the coronavirus again. The President who had famously compared the coronavirus to a ‘little flu’ and had downplayed the safety measures had tested positive for the virus earlier this month. The sixty-five-year-old was under a two weeks quarantine which has now been extended. According to media reports, his office stated that he has suspended his travel plans and will continue working from his home. "President Jair Bolsonaro continues to be in good condition, accompanied by the presidency's medical team. The test taken by the president yesterday, (July) 21, resulted positive," said the statement in a report by IANS. On July 7, Bolsonaro had announced that he was Coronavirus positive after showing symptoms. During the press where he announced his condition, he also said that he had started taking hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug for preventive treatment for the disease. Since then he has been working from his residence and has not attended any public events. At the beginning of the pandemic, Bolsonaro was dismissive of the pandemic and opposed lockdown. According to a report by the BBC had said "With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu," he has said. By May, there was a rapid spike in Brazil’s Covid 19 cases and at present, the country stands after the United States as the second-worst affected by the coronavirus. According to the data by Centre for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University, Brazil has a total of 2,227,514 Covid 19 cases and 82,771 fatalities. Also Watch:  Mass screening of body temperature possible with this new helmet?