Brazil’s well being minister checks optimistic for the virus on the U.N. Common Meeting.

Brazil’s well being minister introduced that he had examined optimistic for the coronavirus on Tuesday in New York, the place he was attending the United Nations General Assembly together with the nation’s defiantly unvaccinated president, Jair Bolsonaro.

The well being minister, Marcelo Queiroga, tweeted that he would quarantine in the US and was “following all well being security protocols.” It was not instantly identified whether or not he was vaccinated.

Mr. Queiroga had accompanied Mr. Bolsonaro throughout his go to to New York for the U.N. assembly, and was seen on video shaking fingers with Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, when Mr. Johnson met Mr. Bolsonaro on Monday.

Mr. Bolsonaro’s dealing with of the pandemic in South America’s largest nation has been extensively criticized. He has repeatedly downplayed the risk the virus posed, and his authorities was sluggish to safe entry to vaccines at the same time as Covid-19 overwhelmed hospitals and killed greater than 590,000 individuals in Brazil.

On Tuesday, Mr. Bolsonaro used his speech at the General Assembly to defend using ineffective medicine to deal with the coronavirus and argued that docs ought to have had extra leeway in administering untested drugs for Covid-19. The far-right president added that he had been amongst those that recovered after “off-label” therapy with a malaria drug that research have discovered ineffective to deal with the illness.

Mr. Bolsonaro, who had a mild case of Covid-19 in July of final yr, has stated he was in no hurry to get vaccinated, which made for an ungainly change throughout his assembly with Mr. Johnson, who hailed the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was developed in Britain at Oxford College.

“Get AstraZeneca vaccines,” Mr. Johnson stated. “I’ve had it twice.”

Mr. Bolsonaro pointed to himself and stated: “Not but.”

His unvaccinated standing additionally created hurdles in New York, the place eating places require that patrons present proof of inoculation for indoor seating. On Sunday, one in all Mr. Bolsonaro’s ministers posted a photograph on Twitter of the president consuming pizza whereas standing on the road alongside a number of prime aides — together with Mr. Queiroga.