Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday that he tested negative for the coronavirus days after he met with President Donald Trump _ and denounced as "fake news" reports that he was positive.
"The lab test was negative for the president of the republic," Bolsonaro tweeted in Portuguese.
A newspaper in Brazil initially reported that an initial test on Bolsonaro was positive, "based on sources with first-hand knowledge inside the presidential palace." Fox News also reported Bolsonaro had tested positive and that further tests were needed to confirm the result.
Bolsonaro, a right-wing populist, met Trump and Vice President Mike Pence at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in Florida last weekend.
A press aide to the Brazilian leader who also rubbed elbows with both leaders tested positive Thursday. Trump shrugged off the positive test on the press aide saying he was "not concerned."
The White House claimed that neither Trump nor Pence have been tested for coronavirus, despite being exposed to the virus.
Asked about the press aide who tested positive, press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed testing was not necessary because the two leaders only briefly interacted with him. Health experts say the virus is highly contagious and can easily be spread by contact similar to what Trump had with the aide.
