Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19 after repeatedly flouting public health recommendations

• Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has flouted public health recommendations, has tested positive for COVID-19, he confirmed on Tuesday.
• The Brazilian president has garnered a reputation as an anti-science leader.
• In March, Bolsonaro described COVID-19 as "just a little flu."
• Brazil has the second worst coronavirus outbreak in the world after the US.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19, he confirmed on Tuesday.

"Everyone knew that it would reach a considerable part of the population sooner or later. It was positive for me," Bolsonaro said.

After announcing his positive diagnosis, Bolsonaro gave a thumbs up and took off his mask in front of reporters. "I'm fine," he said.

The Brazilian leader was tested for coronavirus on Monday, and spoke to supporters from a distance shortly thereafter. It was his fourth test for the virus in the past several months. Bolsonaro was exhibiting symptoms of the virus and had a 100 degree fever, CNN Brasil reported on Monday, but his office claimed the president's temperature was normal.

"I've came back from the hospital now, I've done a lung screening, my lung is clean, OK? I went to do a Covid exam a while ago, but everything is okay," Bolsonaro said to supporters on Monday outside the presidential palace in Brasília, while urging them to keep their distance. He was wearing a mask at the time.

Last month, a federal judge in Brazil ordered Bolsonaro to wear a mask in public while in the Brazilian capital or face a fine.

"With the example of the president of Brazil, everything is more difficult for us," Sao Paulo governor Joao Doria told CNN's Isa Soares in May. "He goes to the streets without masks. A wrong behavior and wrong indication. This is very sad for Brazil and makes everything more difficult for the governors in the states of Brazil."

Much like President Donald Trump, with whom Bolsonaro has an extremely friendly relationship, the Brazilian president has routinely rejected the science surrounding COVID-19 and flouted public health recommendations.

"Our lives have to go on. Jobs must be kept ... We must, yes, get back to normal," Bolsonaro said during a speech in March. "With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus, I would have no reason to worry. I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu."

When reporters asked Bolsonaro about the rising death toll in his country back in April, he replied: "So what?"

Brazil has one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world, with the second most confirmed cases after the US.

As of Tuesday, there were over 1.6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 65,000 fatalities from the virus in Brazil, per Johns Hopkins.

Bolsonaro's anti-science leadership strongly contributed to Brazil's coronavirus outbreak spiraling out of control, according to public health experts.

The Brazilian president, alongside leaders like Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, "downplayed the seriousness" of COVID-19 and "delayed for long periods before acting," Lawrence Gostin, the director of the O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown University Law School, told Insider in late May.

"Undoubtedly, the response of leaders is crucial in curtailing an infectious-disease outbreak. The fact that these three leaders are highly nationalistic and have a history of rejecting science and discounting expert advice played a major role in COVID-19 running out of control in their countries," Gostin added.

A top World Health Organization official on Tuesday said that Bolsonaro's positive test result is a reminder the virus does not discriminate.

"No one is special in that regard — we are all potentially exposed to this virus The virus doesn't really know who we are. Whether we're prince our pauper, we're equally vulnerable," Mike Short, the executive director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, said. "What it really highlights is our collective vulnerability to this disease. So, we wish Mr. Bolsonaro and his family the best in this regard."

Bolsonaro was at the US Embassy in Brasília for a July 4th celebration on Saturday, and closely interacted with US ambassador to Brazil Todd Chapman in the process. The Embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider on whether additional precautions are being taken.