BRASILIA, Sep 22 (Reuters) – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro isolated himself at home on Wednesday after returning from the United Nations assembly and canceled a trip after his Health Minister tested positive for COVID-19 and had to remain in quarantine in New York.
Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa recommended that the entire presidential delegation that was in the UN General Assembly remain isolated and undergo further tests. Bolsonaro’s only appointment on Wednesday was changed to a remote meeting.
Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga tested positive hours after accompanying Bolsonaro to give the first speech by a head of state at the annual assembly on Tuesday, the government said. He added that all the other members of the delegation tested negative.
Bolsonaro, a vaccine skeptic who has bragged that he was not vaccinated, defied UN rules that required all assembly attendees to be inoculated against the coronavirus.
Queiroga accompanied Bolsonaro to a meeting Tuesday morning at the UN building with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The Minister of Health was seen wearing a mask, unlike the two leaders.
The Brazilian government informed the UN that its entire delegation decided to remain in quarantine for fourteen days, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
“We have investigated the possible exposure of UN personnel who had been present in the General Assembly hall and contact tracing is being finalized,” Dujarric told reporters. “At the moment, no close contact between UN personnel has been identified,” he added.
Bolsonaro was the only member of his entourage in New York who was not vaccinated. Before traveling to the United States, he said he believed his antibody count after fighting COVID-19 protected him better than a vaccine.
(Report by Lisandra Paraguassu in Brasilia and Michelle Nichols in the United Nations, edited in Spanish by Daniela Desantis)