Crediting his athleticism for his recovery from coronavirus, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has argued that reporters that have been grilling him on the pandemic response have fewer chances to beat the disease.
Bolsonaro, who tested positive for the virus last month and received his first negative result after over two weeks battling the disease, has been heavily criticized for his skepticism about Covid-19.
Media has taken him to task for his vocal opposition to lockdowns and going out in public without a mask. Brazil’s media association even threatened to sue Bolsonaro after he removed the mask at a press conference early last month when announcing that he was still being tested positive for the coronavirus.
The war-of-words between Bolsonaro and the media took a new sharp turn on Monday during a “Defeating Covid-19” event, that saw the Brazilian leader taunting reporters, arguing that if they were to contract the virus, they are more likely to die from it than physically-fit people like him.
Bolsonaro said back in March that in case he contracted the virus, he “wouldn’t need to worry” due to his “background as an athlete.”
When he eventually did contract the disease, Bolsonaro said that he had been experiencing a fever as well as having muscle soreness and malaise, but insisted his symptoms were mild while referring to the isolation he had to endure as “horrible.”
On Monday, Bolsonaro again emphasized the role his “history as an athlete” played in his recovery, while at the same time taking aim at the media.
Brazil has been experiencing the world’s worst coronavirus outbreak, legging behind only the US. As of Sunday, it has reported over 3.6 million cases of the virus, including over 114,000 people who died from the disease.
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