Brazil’s health minister tests positive for coronavirus at U.N. General Assembly

Queiroga is reportedly the second member of Bolsonaro’s delegation to test positive in New York. Bloomberg News reported that a member of the delegation who hadn’t been in contact with the president tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving and was placed in isolation.

Bolsonaro remains defiantly unvaccinated, saying he doesn’t need the shots because he recovered from a mild case of covid-19 last year. On Tuesday Bolsonaro appeared to break U.N. rules that asked for all those who entered the General Assembly Hall to be fully vaccinated under an “honor system.”

Bolsonaro was also pictured eating pizza on the streets of New York on Sunday night with members of his delegation — Queiroga included — and observers speculated that he was avoiding indoor restaurants, where New York’s vaccine mandate applies.

In his opening speech for the event, in which the global coronavirus pandemic was top of the agenda, Bolsonaro said his government did not support the use of a vaccine passport and stood by treatment of the virus with unproven drugs such as the anti-malarial hydroxychloroquine.

The Brazilian leader said that his government supported vaccinations but also that it supported “early treatment” for covid-19, with Bolsonaro suggesting he had received this treatment on the advice of his doctors. He suggested his attitude would be proven right, eventually.

“History and science will be wise enough to hold everyone accountable,” he told the General Assembly.

In a briefing Monday, he appeared to turn down an offer from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to receive a dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Queiroga on Tuesday went to the United Nations General Assembly to watch President Bolsonaro’s speech. He apparently shook hands with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — who later met President Biden at the White House. Queiroga said that he had worn a mask while in the U.N. building.

It isn’t the first time members of a Brazilian delegation have tested positive for coronavirus on a trip to the United States. On a visit to meet President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate last year, more than 20 members of Bolsonaro’s delegation caught coronavirus. Queiroga is one of the only ministers in the current entourage to take precautions such as mask-wearing.

There have been more than 21 million cases of covid-19 in Brazil and over 590,000 deaths, according to Washington Post data.

Adam Taylor in Washington and Annabelle Timsit in London contributed to this article.

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