"You don't have to panic": Bolsonaro calls for calm while warning elderly to take coronavirus precautions

Record ID: 1561727

  • Title: "You don't have to panic": Bolsonaro calls for calm while warning elderly to take coronavirus precautions
  • Date: 10th July 2020
  • Summary: BRASILIA, BRAZIL (JULY 9, 2020) (REUTERS) BOLSONARO GREETING SUPPORTERS AND GETTING INTO PALACE BOLSONARO SUPPORTERS OUTSIDE PALACE VARIOUS OF WORKERS DISINFECTING EXTERIOR AREA OF ALVORADA PALACE VARIOUS OF WORKERS DISINFECTING SIGN THAT READS (Portuguese) "ALVORADA PALACE"
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2020 02:45
  • Keywords: Brazil COVID-19 President Jair Bolsonaro coornavirus health
  • Location: BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • City: BRASILIA, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA007CM3AA13
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Thursday (July 9) warned the elderly and immunocompromised individuals to protect themselves against the coronavirus just days after Bolsonaro himself tested positive for COVID-19.
    Bolsonaro has been heavily criticized for leading what many call a "botched" response to the spread fo the coronavirus in Brazil. In the past, he has dismissed the disease as just "a little flu."
    More than 1.7 million people in Brazil have tested positive for coronavirus and nearly 68,000 have died.
    On Thursday, the President's office issued a video of Bolsonaro talking about the virus. He said the elderly, in particular, should protect themselves. Still, he urged Brazilians to stay calm.
    "The virus (COVID-19), the ones who have to protect themselves are the elderly, as in my case - sixty-five years old - and people who have a comorbidity, have certain diseases, who are weak. They do not have an immune system that resists. The rest must be careful, but if you contract the virus you don't have to panic," he said.
    His comments came as the Brazilian Press Association on Thursday filed a criminal complaint to the Supreme Court against Bolsonaro, after he took off his mask in a televised interview in which he announced he had tested positive.
    In its complaint, the press association alleged that Bolsonaro had committed at least two crimes related to putting someone's life or health at imminent risk and failing to prevent the spread of an infectious disease.
    Bolsonaro, 65, is currently in quarantine, and has said he is feeling well. The far-right former army captain has a prickly relationship with journalists, alleging unfair treatment and he is quick to label unfavorable coverage as fake news.
    (Production: Leonardo Benassatto, Liamar Ramos, Kristin Neubauer)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register