By: Ted Gladmeiner
The press secretary to Brazil’s president has tested positive for coronavirus – only days after he met in person with President Donald Trump.
Fabio Wajngarten, who serves as the conduit to the media for Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, is apparently infected with the coronavirus, according to sources in contact with CNN.
The shocking announcement comes in the wake of a meeting between Wajngarten and the president in Florida.
“I’m not concerned at all,” Trump said during a brief confab with reporters. told the
press. “We did nothing very unusual, we sat next to each other for a period of time.”
Wajngarten, “who had been photographed with the U.S. president during the visit, initially denied the reports he had been tested for the virus, saying on social media that his health was fine. On Thursday, the president’s communications office said he is now in self-quarantine at home,” Fox News is reporting. “He was also seen with Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who went into self-quarantine this week after learning he and other congressional leaders had been exposed to a CPAC attendee who tested positive for COVID-19.”
A piece in Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, which first reported the news about Wajngarten, the officials wife admitted that her husband was infected on a WhatsApp post.
Bolsonaro and Wajngarten each visited Florida last week, which is when they got together with the president at the resort he owns, Mar-a-Lago. Their conversations touched on topics such as trade, Venezuela, and the Middle East. Those who were present said that the two presidents shook hands. Wajngarten stood beside Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for a photograph that has been widely distributed.
Tellingly, the president and Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar shared an uncomfortable moment during their White House meeting earlier today when the time came for them to shake hands – or not.
“The two made the mutual decision upon Varadkar’s arrival Thursday for the Irish leader’s annual visit to the White House not to shake hands,” according to The Associated Press. “We looked at each other and said, ‘What are we going to do?’” said Trump, acknowledging to reporters that he felt a bit odd welcoming the Irish leader without a handshake. “You know, it’s sort of a weird feeling.”
Trump, who has spoken often about his loathing of germs, has reportedly made peace with the fact that he must shake hands with a plethora of individuals.
“He joked during Thursday’s Oval Office meeting that India and Japan — both nations he has visited as president — are “ahead of the curve” because their cultures generally don’t involve handshakes. Trump even did a quick demonstration from his seat of the Japanese ojigi and the Indian namaste, both of which involve slight bows,” AP reported.
