Brazil's Bolsonaro, Long a Skeptic, Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. (Reuters)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. (Reuters)
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Brazil's Bolsonaro, Long a Skeptic, Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. (Reuters)
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. (Reuters)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he tested positive for the novel coronavirus, after months of playing down the severity of the virus which he has called a "little flu."

The right-wing populist said in an interview broadcast on state-run TV Brasil that he was in good health despite running a fever.

Bolsonaro said he took the test on Monday after feeling ill the previous day and has been taking hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug with unproven effectiveness against COVID-19.

The positive test looks set to spark a frantic period of contact tracing and further tests for those who met Bolsonaro in recent days, including Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, Brazilian bank Bradesco's Chairman Luiz Carlos Trabuco and planemaker Embraer's CEO Francisco Gomes Neto.

Over the weekend, Bolsonaro was also in close contact with US Ambassador Todd Chapman during July 4 celebrations. Pictures showed neither wearing a mask.

Brazil has the world's second-largest outbreak behind the United States. Latin America's largest country has more than 1.6 million confirmed cases and 65,000 COVID-19 deaths.

Bolsonaro joins a short list of heads of government to become infected with the coronavirus, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, both of whom were treated in hospital and needed extra oxygen.

Pan American Health Organization director for communicable diseases Marcos Espinal wished Bolsonaro a "speedy recovery" but said his infection carried a message.

"The message is that this virus is unpredictable and does not respect race, class or people in power, despite security around any president," Espinal said.

"For Brazil, the infection of its president should reinforce the need to strengthen implementations of social distancing recommendations and the use of masks to mitigate the spread of coronavirus," he added.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly defied local guidelines to wear a mask in public, even after a judge ordered him to do so in late June. Bolsonaro has also railed against social distancing rules supported by the World Health Organization.

The US embassy in Brasilia said via Twitter on Monday that the ambassador had lunch on July 4 with Bolsonaro, five ministers and the president's son, Congressman Eduardo Bolsonaro. The ambassador had no symptoms, but would undergo testing and is "taking precautions," the embassy said.



ICC Concerned About Hungary's Decision to Withdraw from the Court

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the end of a press conference following bilateral talks on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the end of a press conference following bilateral talks on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
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ICC Concerned About Hungary's Decision to Withdraw from the Court

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the end of a press conference following bilateral talks on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at the end of a press conference following bilateral talks on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)

The presidency of the International Criminal Court on Thursday expressed concern about Hungary's decision to withdraw from the court.
In a letter to Hungary it urged the country to continue to be a resolute party to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the country would withdraw completely from the court on the same day Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu, indicted by the ICC, visited Budapest.

Orban gave the Israeli leader a welcome with full military honors in Budapest’s Castle District. The two close allies stood side by side as a military band played and an elaborate procession of soldiers on horseback and carrying swords and bayoneted rifles marched by.

As the ceremony unfolded, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, released a brief statement saying that “the government will initiate the withdrawal procedure” for leaving the court, which could take a year or more to complete.

Orban later said that he believes the ICC is “a political court.”
The ICC, based in The Hague, Netherlands, said when issuing its warrant that there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had committed crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.