AP Explains: Bolsonaro has downplayed virus fears for months

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for months flirted with the new coronavirus as he flouted social distancing at lively demonstrations and encouraged crowds during outings from the presidential residence, often without a mask.

He has at times downplayed the risk posed by COVID-19, the disease that can be caused by the virus, and at others expressed fatalism that it will inevitably claim lives. He says tough measures to cub the virus' spread such as lockdowns are a threat to Brazil’s economic well-being

On Tuesday, he announced that he has tested positive for the virus, making him one of the more than 1.6 million Brazilians with confirmed infections. It is the world's second highest total, though considered by experts to be an undercount due to lack of testing. Here's a look at what Bolsonaro has said as the tally grew.

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HOW HAS HE MINIMIZED THE THREAT OF THE CORONAVIRUS?

Bolsonaro has argued that alarm about the spread of the virus is overblown.

"In my understanding, the issue of the coronavirus is more of a fantasy. It is not all that that mainstream media says and advertises around the world,” he said during an event with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida on March 10, when Brazil had confirmed only a handful of cases.

But multiple members of his delegation on the trip proved to have infections. Still, Bolsonaro insisted in a March 15 interview that worry about COVID-19 was “hysteria.”

“Other viruses that were more dangerous happened in the past and we didn't have this crisis,” he said.

In a March 24 nationally televised address, Bolsonaro struck a defiant tone as he downplayed the virus, sometimes while smirking.

“In my particular case, because of my history as an athlete, in case I were contaminated by the virus I wouldn't...