Two Brazilian state governors, on Tuesday, said they had tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19.
Governors Wilson Witzel of Rio de Janeiro and Governor Helder Barbalho of the northern state of Para both posted videos to Twitter announcing their diagnoses and urging people to stay home to fight the spread of the virus.
Witzel, a leading proponent of closing non-essential businesses and ordering people to stay home, said he had started feeling unwell Friday, with a fever, sore throat and loss of smell, a key symptom of the virus.
“Today (Tuesday), the test result came back positive… Now, thank God, I’m feeling better, and will continue working while following my doctors’ advice,” said Witzel, 52.
“I ask you once again to stay home, because this disease, as everyone can see, spreads quickly and doesn’t spare anyone.”
Barbalho, 40, who also revealed he was asymptomatic, made a similar appeal.
“This virus is extremely contagious, it doesn’t recognize age or class. Everyone is exposed. So please stay home,” he said.
The two Governors have played a critical role in curbing the spread of the virus by ordering people to stay inside and most businesses to close.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has criticized lockdowns at the local level, saying the outbreak has been blown out of proportion, even though several of his cabinet ministers and closest aides have been infected.
Brazil had a record 204 deaths on Tuesday from coronavirus, which is the highest death toll for a single day since the outbreak began. More than 1,500 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil, with more than 25,000 confirmed cases of the disease.
