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| Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro is seen on a screen as he attends via video a conference of the launching ceremony of the basic sanitation legal framework at the Planalto Palace, in Brasilia |
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has again tested positive for coronavirus, CNN Brasil reported on Wednesday, suggesting he has yet to recover from an infection announced last week.
CNN Brasil reported that Bolsonaro personally told the network of his new positive test result and said he would take another test in a few days. Since catching the virus, the president has said he remains in good health and he would resume his normal work schedule if he tested negative this week.
Bolsonaro first announced his diagnosis on July 7 after dismissing the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it a โlittle fluโ even as Brazilโs outbreak became the worst in the world outside the United States.
He played down the countryโs mounting death toll โ now over 74,000, out of nearly 2 million confirmed cases โ and said his good physical condition would prevent him from developing serious symptoms if he got ill.
Bolsonaro has also sidelined medical experts in Brazilโs handling of the pandemic, pushed back against state and city lockdowns and circulated often in public without a mask, drawing criticism from public health specialists.
