Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, leading coronavirus sceptic, says he’s no longer infected

President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has repeatedly dismissed the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic even as his country exploded into a leading global hot spot and he became infected himself this month, announced Saturday that he had recovered.

“GOOD MORNING EVERYONE,” Bolsonaro, 65, said in a Twitter message asserting he had tested negative for Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus.

READ: Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro tests coronavirus negative

Brazilian news reports said later that he departed the presidential palace, where he had been isolating for more than two weeks, and went for a motorcycle ride, accompanied by security aides.

Describing the virus as a “measly cold,” Bolsonaro went out of his way to deny the impact of the scourge, railing against social distancing measures and mask-wearing even as infections and death were soaring in Brazil, Latin America’s biggest country. Critics in Brazil and abroad called his attitude cavalier and reckless, accusations he routinely ignored.

On July 6, he fell ill. That was two days after he and a few subordinates partied at the US Embassy in Brasília, the capital, to celebrate Independence Day as a guest of the American ambassador, Todd Chapman. They mingled and embraced with no masks.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

On July 7, Bolsonaro confirmed he had been infected and said he would continue to work from his residence. He also posted images of himself taking an unproven treatment, hydroxychloroquine, asserting he felt “100 percent” better and effectively turning himself into a walking infomercial for the drug.

Bolsonaro did not specify when the test that showed he was no longer infected had been administered.

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As of Friday, according to the Brazilian government, the country had 2.34 million confirmed cases and more than 85,200 deaths attributable to the virus, second only to the United States, which has 4.1 million cases and more than 145,000 deaths.