Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro posted a video on a social media account on Tuesday of him taking a pill he said was hydroxychloroquine.
Earlier, Bolsonaro confirmed he has tested positive for the coronavirus after months of downplaying its severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country.
“I’m taking here the 3rd dose of hydroxychloroquine”, referring to the anti-malaria drug that he, like US President Donald Trump, has been promoting even though it has not been proven effective against COVID-19.
The World Health Organization said last week it is ending a trial into whether hydroxychloroquine helps patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
According to WHO, a review of the interim results showed hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir “produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care.”
Bolsonaro has often appeared in public to shake hands with supporters and mingle with crowds, at times without a mask.
He has said that his history as an athlete would protect him from the virus and that it would be nothing more than a “little flu” if he were to contract it.
According to a tally by Johns Hopkins University, Brazil has registered more than 1,6 million cases and 66,093 fatalities due to COVID-19.
However, the number of infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies suggest people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
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