Bolsonaro's visit to meet Trump in March was a “coronaviaje,” says former Brazilian health minister

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The three crises that would slow Bolsonaro's re-election 1:35

(CNN) - The former Minister of Health of Brazil described on Wednesday the visit of President Jair Bolsonaro in March to meet with the US president, Donald Trump as a "coronaviaje", and noted that several members of the team of the Brazilian president gave positive for covid-19 after the trip.

Bolsonaro and his aides met with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and other U.S. officials during their last trip to the United States. Days later, Bolsonaro's press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, tested positive for covid-19.

Several other members of Bolsonaro's close circle contracted the virus soon after, raising concern that the two presidents had also been exposed.

"What I know is that shortly after (Bolsonaro) paid a visit to the United States when they went to Florida and everyone was having dinner with Mr. Trump, and his communication guy ... he returned to the plane with the disease and the people who They accompanied, 17 tested positive in about 15 days after their arrival, ”former Brazilian Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "So this trip was really a coronaviaje."

Bolsonaro was negative for coronavirus in three separate tests that Supreme Court Justice Ricardo Lewandowski released to the public on Wednesday afternoon.

LOOK : The emotion of a Brazilian mayor asking Bolsonaro to take precautions for the covid-19

The publication of the tests, which were administered between March 12 and 17 after his return from the USA. The United States ended a protracted confrontation in which Bolsonaro had refused to make the results public, despite repeated legal decisions.

Despite the fact that several of his team contracted the virus, Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the threat of covid-19.

Mandetta was fired from his role as health minister on April 16, after disagreements with the populist leader about the government's response to the outbreak.

"We were clearly on opposite sides," Mandetta told Amanpour. "But history will tell who was right and who was wrong. I think the numbers speak for themselves. "

Brazil has suffered one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world, with more than 180,000 confirmed cases and more than 12,600 deaths so far, according to John Hopkins University.

READ : While the rich isolate themselves, the poor in Sao Paulo cannot afford confinement

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said after Wajngarten's diagnosis that "both the president and vice president had almost no interactions with the person who tested positive and does not require testing at this time."

However, an image posted by Wajngarten on his Instagram account showed him standing next to Trump and Pence.

Jair Bolsonaro