LONDON: The most surprising thing about Jair Bolsonaro’s positive test for coronavirus, announced on Jul 7, was how long it took to happen. The Brazilian president was first suspected of having the virus in March, when several members of his entourage came down with it after visiting US President Donald Trump in Florida.
When Brazil’s Supreme Court ordered him to release his medical results in May, the results were negative. However, on Mar 24 the president called the coronavirus a “little flu” (gripezinha) and said if he were infected, “I would not need to worry.”
Bolsonaro enjoyed strolling around Brasilia without a mask and physically interacting with supporters in April, May and June, in defiance of advice from public health experts. He seemed secure in the belief that nobody had the right to tell him what to do.
So the news that Bolsonaro has finally contracted COVID-19 hardly comes as a shock. But this development might raise difficult political questions about the president’s personal behaviour during the crisis, his government’s response to the pandemic and his ties to Trump.