Brazil’s Unvaccinated President Goes Into Quarantine After Return From New York
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, center with a blue tie, walked outside his hotel while visiting New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly on Monday.
Photo: stefan jeremiah/Reuters
SÃO PAULO—President Jair Bolsonaro was self-isolating after a member of his delegation tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19 during the Brazilian leader’s trip to attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Brazil’s health authority, Anvisa, sent a written request to the presidential palace Wednesday that the president and the rest of his delegation go into isolation after Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga announced Tuesday on Twitter that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
The presidential palace said Mr. Bolsonaro would comply with the measure, going into quarantine for five days before taking a Covid-19 test and reassessing.
Setbacks for the delegation began even before Mr. Bolsonaro’s trip to New York. The 66-year-old former army captain had declined to get vaccinated against Covid-19 ahead of his arrival, prompting Democratic New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to direct comments at him during a televised press conference: “If you don’t want to be vaccinated, don’t bother coming.”
A U.N. employee cleaned the microphones after Mr. Bolsonaro spoke on Tuesday.
Photo: eduardo munoz/press pool
Mr. Bolsonaro still arrived in New York, where he was met by Brazilian residents of the city who came out to protest against him. A conservative who has made disparaging public remarks about women and minorities, Mr. Bolsonaro faces a challenging political campaign to win re-election in a vote scheduled for next year against a leftist rival who polls show has a solid lead.
But more recently, Mr. Bolsonaro has been the subject of sharp criticism from global health experts over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He has promoted unproven treatments for Covid-19 and called Brazilians “sissies” for staying at home during the pandemic. Nearly 600,000 Brazilians have died from the disease, a death toll second only to the U.S.
“We don’t understand why many countries, along with a large part of the media, are against early treatment,” Mr. Bolsonaro said during his speech at the General Assembly on Tuesday, defending the use of unproven drugs to treat the coronavirus. He explained that he himself had sought treatment for Covid-19 when he was infected last year.
Suggesting his view will be proven correct in time, he said, “History and science will hold everyone accountable.”
Mr. Bolsonaro, third from the left, eats pizza outside with other Brazilian officials in New York on Sunday. The city has banned indoor dining by the unvaccinated.
Photo: Gilson Machado Neto via Reuters
In New York City, where indoor dining by unvaccinated patrons is banned, Mr. Bolsonaro and his delegation were photographed eating pizza outside a restaurant.
Mr. Bolsonaro’s decision not to get vaccinated also led to a delicate moment at the U.N. when he met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday.
“ AstraZeneca vaccine is a great vaccine…get AstraZeneca vaccines!” said Mr. Johnson, turning to the cameras, with Mr. Bolsonaro at his side.
Asked if he had taken the vaccine, Mr. Bolsonaro waved his finger in the air: “No, not yet.”
—Allison Prang in New York contributed to this article.
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Appeared in the September 23, 2021, print edition as ‘Bolsonaro Isolates After Aide Tests Positive.’
Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/brazils-unvaccinated-president-goes-into-quarantine-after-return-from-new-york-11632351752
