Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, tests positive for COVID-19

Sergio LIMA / AFP

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to local media reports.

He reportedly went to the hospital for a lung scan and took a COVID-19 test after he developed symptoms, including a fever.

In recent months, several of Bolsonaro’s aides have allegedly tested positive for the virus.

However, the president was often seen defying restrictions such as wearing a mask and social distancing, even after his country became the second-worst hit country after the United States, with more than 65,000 deaths and 1.6 million confirmed cases.

More from International News

  • Thousands of Australians without power as cyclone Alfred hits

    Hundreds of thousands of people in Australia's Queensland state were without power on Sunday after Alfred, a downgraded tropical cyclone, brought damaging winds and heavy rains, sparking flood warnings.

  • Israeli airstrike kills two in southern Gaza

    An Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, medical sources said, as mediators pushed ahead with talks to extend a shaky 42-day ceasefire agreed in January between Israel and Hamas.

  • 12 people injured in Toronto pub shooting

    Toronto Police said early on Saturday they were searching for three male suspects in a shooting that injured at least 12 people at a pub in the Canadian city.

  • Cyclone Alfred downgraded as millions stay indoors

    Ex-tropical cyclone Alfred lingered off the south-east Australian coast on Saturday and forecasters said Brisbane is likely to miss the worst of the storm, a relief for millions of residents in the region who have been staying indoors.