Brazil’s Health Minister tests positive for coronavirus in New York

President Jair Bolsonaro’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly seemed the end of the embarrassment that the Brazilian delegation would go through during the days they visited New York. For not having been vaccinated against the new coronavirus, the president was forced – and forced the group – to eat in the street, due to the restrictions imposed by the health passport adopted by the city. The last day of the Brazilians in the city, however, brought one last uneasiness: the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, tested positive for covid-19. The day before, the minister had been caught on camera making offensive gestures to the protesters who were protesting the presence of Bolsonaro in the city.

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The Special Secretariat for Social Communication (Secom) reported that “the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, who was part of the presidential delegation to New York (USA), tested positive for covid-19 and will remain in the United States for the period of isolation. The minister is well ”. “We also reported that the other members of the delegation were examined and tested negative for the disease,” the statement said. Queiroga was the second member of the entourage to test positive during the trip and will have to spend 14 days in quarantine. “I will be quarantined in the #USA, following all health security protocols. Meanwhile, @minsaude will remain firm in the actions to confront the pandemic in Brazil. Let’s defeat this virus! ”, the minister published on his Twitter profile.

During his speech on Tuesday, Bolsonaro attacked “the health passport or any obligation related to vaccines” and once again defended chloroquine treatment to combat the early stages of the disease, something that has proven scientific ineffectiveness. “I myself was one of those who did an early treatment,” said the president, who the day before insisted on saying in a meeting with the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, that he had not been vaccinated. The Brazilian president also received a public reprimand from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio for not having been vaccinated. His fourth health minister did get vaccinated, but the coronavirus infected him at an especially inopportune moment for Bolsonaro.

Before the trip, on Thursday of last week, Queiroga advised the president to get vaccinated during Bolsonaro’s weekly Facebook live. “The president defends the autonomy of the doctor. I am not your doctor, but I advocate that the president makes the decision in a timely manner. He says he is invincible. I do not know if it is invincible. But then I’ll talk to Michelle [Bolsonaro, la esposa del presidente]Said Queiroga.

As Bolsonaro’s Health Minister, Queiroga was the one who managed to balance for the longest time the needs to combat the pandemic in the country and the constant presidential boycott of the measures implemented to try to contain the advance of the coronavirus. However, days before joining the commission that traveled to New York, the minister was involved in a controversy over the decision of the Ministry of Health to suspend vaccination against covid-19 among adolescents between 12 and 17 years old.

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During the press conference in which he detailed the decision, Queiroga reinforced the Bolsonarist arguments about vaccines. The decision went against the opinion of the experts and the evaluation of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), and several governors announced that they would not follow the instruction. On Tuesday, Supreme Court Minister (STF) Ricardo Lewandowski decided that states and municipalities can decide on the immunization of this group. The decision has yet to be evaluated by the full STF.

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