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The
test will be done early next week in order to rule out any
chance the president has the virus, the newspaper said, without
naming the source of the information. A representative for
Bolsonaro's press office declined to comment.
Bolsonaro and a large Brazilian entourage, including cabinet
ministers, met with Trump and other senior U.S. officials last
weekend at Mar-a-Lago. One of the party, Bolsonaro's
communications secretary Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for
COVID-19 on Thursday and is in quarantine at his home.
Charge d'Affairs Nestor Forster Jr. at the Brazilian Embassy in
Washington, who was also present at the Trump dinner, has also
now tested positive, GloboNews television channel reported late
on Friday.
Bolsonaro said earlier in the day that he had tested negative
for coronavirus, in a post on his Facebook page.
"Tests negative for COVID-19 Mr President of the Republic Jair
Bolsonaro," the post said, above an old image of Bolsonaro
making an obscene local gesture in an apparent response to some
media reports that a first test had been positive.
Estado de S.Paulo said Bolsonaro would remain isolated in
quarantine at his official residence until the beginning of next
week, citing an unnamed member of the president's medical staff
who said Bolsonaro needed to be isolated for seven days from the
time of being in contact with someone infected with the virus.
Bolsonaro's son Eduardo tweeted earlier on Friday that his test
had come back negative. Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo e
Silva tested negative as well, the ministry said in a statement.
The results for others in the Brazilian delegation, including
Bolsonaro's wife Michelle and Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo,
have not yet been published.
However, Bolsonaro's lawyer, Karina Kufa, who was part of the
delegation, tested positive, according to the O Globo newspaper.
Senator Nelsinho Trad, who also formed part of the group, said
late Friday that his test had also come back positive.
"Life continues normally, we have many challenges ahead and many
problems to solve," Bolsonaro said outside his official
residence after news of the negative test result.
He waved to supporters but said it was better not to shake their
hands.
The testing of Bolsonaro and many in his inner circle has
changed the president's tone on a virus that he dismissed on
Tuesday as largely a "fantasy."
In a stern address to the nation on Thursday evening, Bolsonaro
asked his supporters to call off marches planned for the weekend
in order to avoid spreading the disease.
Brazil has confirmed 98 cases of the coronavirus, according to
the Ministry of Health.
Fox News and a local Brazilian newspaper earlier reported
Bolsonaro's initial test for coronavirus was positive.
"He tested negative full stop," Bolsonaro's son Eduardo later
told Fox News. He did not directly answer a question as to
whether a first test was positive.
Trump told reporters on Friday he would likely be tested "fairly
soon" but denied this was related to his contact with Wajngarten,
beside whom he was photographed at Mar-a-Lago.
"There was somebody that they say has it. I have no idea who he
is, but I take pictures and it lasts for literally seconds," he
said.
"I did sit with the president (Bolsonaro) for probably two
hours, but he's tested negative, so that's good."
(Reporting by Débora Moreira in Rio de Janeiro, Gabriela Mello
in Sao Paulo, Maria Carolina Marcello in Brasilia and Jeff Mason
and Lisa Lambert in Washington; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer
and Jake Spring; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Richard Pullin)
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