CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, ADDS THROUGHOUT
By Beyza Binnur Donmez
ANKARA (AA) - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday he "tested negative" for COVID-19, after local reports claimed the opposite.
Bolsonaro made the announcement on Twitter, saying he does not "believe the fake news of media".
Earlier, his son Eduardo Bolsonaro immediately denied the media reports that claimed the president tested positive for deadly epidemic.
"Too many lies and little information. Coronavirus exam done with the team that was with Jair Bolsonaro in the U.S. has not yet been completed," Eduardo said in a Twitter message.
"There are always those people who tell lies in the media and if the story is confirmed they say 'I told you!' if not will be just one more fake news," he added.
Bolsonaro has been tested for coronavirus and is under medical observation after his Press Secretary Fabio Wajngarten was diagnosed with the virus on Thursday.
Late Thursday, the president appeared in a live Facebook stream with a mask and hand sanitizer and said he still does not know the results of his test.
Wajngarten was part of Bolsonaro's delegation during a trip to Florida earlier this week, where Brazil and the U.S. signed a military cooperation deal.
The press secretary also attended a dinner with U.S. President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend and photographed standing with two leaders and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence.
On the other hand, the White House said Wednesday that Trump has not been tested for coronavirus following the meeting with the Brazilian delegation.
Brazil has at least 150 confirmed coronavirus cases without fatalities so far, according to Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.
After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the virus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 123 countries and territories.
The global death toll is now nearly 5,000, with more than 132,500 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which declared the outbreak a pandemic.
A vast majority of those who become infected recover from the illness.