RTFri, 13 Mar 2020 22:45 UTC
© Reuters / Tom BrennerDonald Trump shakes meets Jair Bolsonaro at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, March 7, 2020.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for Covid-19, a Brazilian paper is claiming citing sources in the presidential palace. All eyes are now on US President Donald Trump, who met Bolsonaro on Saturday.
Bolsonaro and his delegation met with Trump at the president's Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida. On Thursday, Bolsonaro's press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
According to Brazilian newspaper
O Dia, Bolsonaro himself has now tested positive for the virus. His preliminary results came back positive on Friday, the paper claims. The report is based on sources within the Brazilian government. The paper has been described by journalist Glenn Greenwald - a critic of Bolsonaro - as "reasonably reliable." He, however, then urged the journalists "to be cautious" in their reporting.
The news has not yet been confirmed by Bolsonaro, who announced in a Facebook address on Thursday that he had taken the test and entered voluntary self-isolation. The Brazilian leader cancelled official appointments on Friday, and was seen wearing a face mask that morning, O Dia reported.
Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, called the report "too much lies," and said that his father's tests have not yet been completed. "There are always those people who tell lies in the media," he tweeted on Friday.
Bolsonaro shook hands with Trump at the Saturday meeting, meaning speculation is now mounting over whether the US president could have caught the deadly virus.
After Wajngarten's diagnosis was revealed, Trump downplayed concerns, telling reporters he "did nothing unusual" with the Brazilian press secretary, adding that the pair had only "sat next to each other for a period of time."
Trump said that he has
"no plans" to get tested for the illness.
If the newspaper report is true, Bolsonaro is the highest-ranking political leader to test positive for Covid-19. Another contender is Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, whose wife has tested positive for the virus and who is also currently working from self-isolation. Believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in November, the virus has infected more than 139,000 people worldwide, killing just over 5,100.
Comment: The report on Bolsonaro's test results were immediately
contradicted by his son who claimed the story was put out before Bolsonaro's results had come back. Apparently he tested negative.
Brazil's president used the opportunity to
decry the misinformation around the state of his health.
The Brazilian leader announced his test results on his Facebook page on Friday, just over an hour after Brazilian newspaper O Dia reported that he had tested positive. Bolsonaro followed his announcement up with a post reading "don't believe the fake news media!"
Earlier, Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, had criticized the media for spreading "fake news" about his father's diagnosis. He said that full results were unknown at the time of O Dia's report.
Canada's PM Justin Trudeau is conveniently 'self-isolating', because wife Sophie has apparently tested
positive for coronavirus. This has allowed him to dodge the controversial handling of the
pipeline protests by various indigenous groups. for a few weeks.
Australia's Home Affairs minister,
Peter Dutton, joins the list of government officials testing positive for exposure.
Australia's minister for home affairs, Peter Dutton, has announced that he has contracted coronavirus. The senior Australian official said that he has been hospitalized. In a statement posted to his official Twitter page, Dutton explained that he was tested for COVID-19 after waking up with a "temperature and sore throat."
Dutton was hospitalized after the test returned positive. The minister said that he "feels fine" and will provide updates as they become available.
Australia will ban all public gatherings of more than 500 people starting on Monday, as the government attempts to stop toe spread of the highly contagious disease.
In a show of bravura, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was
photographed observing a military drill without wearing a mask.
In a photograph released by the country's Korean Central News Agency, Kim is seen in a camouflaged trench as he observes artillery exercises. Wearing a black leather coat and a hat, the North Korean leader is conspicuously without any protective gear - in sharp contrast to his aides, who are all sporting black medical masks.© Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) / ReutersNorth Korean leader Kim Jong-un observes an artillery fire
There are no confirmed reports of coronavirus in the hermit state, but its proximity to the disease's epicenter in China has prompted the government to increase vigilance at the border and impose quarantine measures when deemed necessary.
"All workers are strengthening awareness-raising campaigns about the global spread of the disease and prevention and treatment policy so that no one lowers their guard because the outbreak has not occurred in our country," KCNA said in a report.
If genuine, the photo would mark his second public appearance this week to oversee military drills. Kim was similarly spotted without any kind of facial protection when he watched missile tests on Monday. The launches are believed to have been the first by North Korea in three months.
His ancestry is mostly Italian, having descended from the Calabria region on his father's side. The same region home to many Italian crime syndicates. His liberalization of economic policy in Brazil would suggest favourable terms for US corporate interests.