Brazil’s First Lady recovers from Covid-19

Brasilia, Aug 17 (IANS) Brazilian First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro has recovered from the novel coronavirus, after she tested positive for the disease on July 30.

“The test came out negative, thank you for your prayers and affection,” Xinhua news agency quoted the 38-year-old as saying in an online post on Sunday.

The First Lady tested positive after her corona-sceptic husband and President Jair Bolsonaro contracted the disease on July 7.

The President announced on July 25 that he had recovered.

According to official information, Jair Bolsonaro underwent four COVID-19 tests in 18 days and tested positive thrice.

Besides the President and the First Lady, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Marcos Pontes; Citizenship Minister Onyx Lorenzoni; Education Minister Milton Ribeiro were also tested positive in July.

Two other ministers, Bento Albuquerque, who is in charge of mines and energy, and Augusto Heleno, who heads the institutional security cabinet, tested positive in March, but quickly recovered.

Brazil currently accounts for the second highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths, just after the US.

As of Monday, the total number of cases in the country stood at 3,340,197, while the death toll increased to 107,852.

It is also the country with the maximum amount of infections and fatalities in Latin America.

Sao Paulo, the most populated state in the country and the epicentre of the pandemic, has registered over 699,000 confirmed cases and 26,852 deaths, followed by Bahia, Ceara and Rio de Janeiro.

–IANS

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