This archive report was first published on 8 July 2020.
Brazil's President Bolsonaro Endorses Hydroxychloroquine Amid Coronavirus Pandemic ¶
On July 7, 2020, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, 65, announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. Despite his diagnosis, Bolsonaro has continued to promote hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that has been shown to have no scientific evidence in treating Covid-19 patients.
According to a video posted on Facebook, Bolsonaro said, "I'm doing much better than I was," and "It's working." He acknowledged that there are no drugs scientifically proven to treat Covid-19, but he said, "I'm one more person it's working on. I trust hydroxychloroquine."
However, studies have found that hydroxychloroquine does not work on Covid-19 patients, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning in May 2020, explaining that the medication can cause dangerous abnormalities in the heart rhythm of coronavirus patients.
The president's illness has reignited debate over the government's handling of the pandemic. Bolsonaro has downplayed the danger posed by the virus, encouraged Brazilians to brush aside quarantine measures adopted by states, and urged Brazilians to continue working.
The virus has infected more than 1.6 million people and killed more than 66,700 patients in Brazil, and it is not slowing down. On July 7, 2020, the country reported 45,305 new infections and 1,254 deaths.
Health experts fear that Bolsonaro's insistent endorsements of hydroxychloroquine will encourage many more people to take it, while not taking precautions to avoid infection. And if Bolsonaro recovers quickly without serious complications, they say, it would add to that false sense of invulnerability.
His stance is a lonely one among major world leaders. Even President Trump, who for months enthusiastically promoted hydroxychloroquine, took it for only two weeks and rarely mentions it any more.
