Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday tweeted best wishes for Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro, who has tested positive for coronavirus disease Covid-19.
“My friend President @jairbolsonaro, my prayers and best wishes for your speedy recovery,” PM Modi said in his tweet. He has posted the same message in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.
Bolsonaro said he tested positive for the new coronavirus on Tuesday after months of downplaying its severity while deaths mounted rapidly inside the country.
The Brazilian President said he is confident that he will swiftly recover from the new coronavirus thanks to treatment with hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug that has not been proven effective against Covid-19.
Bolsonaro told reporters that he underwent a lung X-ray on Monday after experiencing fever, muscle aches and malaise. As of Tuesday, his fever had subsided, he said, and he attributed the improvement to hydroxychloroquine.
In April, he had thanked PM Modi for easing restrictions on export of hydroxychloroquine. Bolsonaro compared the move to Lord Hanuman and Sanjeevani booti (herb) in the epic Ramayana.
“Just as Lord Hanuman brought the holy medicine from the Himalayas to save the life of Lord Rama’s brother Laksmana, and Jesus healed those who were sick and restored the sight of Bartimeu, India and Brazil will overcome this global crisis,” President Bolronaro had said in a letter to Prime Minister Modi.
India is the largest manufacturer and exporter of hydroxychloroquine in the world.
Bolsonaro was in the country this January to be chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations.
Brazil, the world’s sixth-biggest nation, with more than 210 million people, is one of the outbreak’s most lethal hot spots. More than 65,000 Brazilians have died from Covid-19, and over 1.5 million have been infected.
Both numbers are the world’s second-highest totals, behind those of the United States.
