Brazil: Lula Is Infected With COVID-19 and Suspends Campaign

On Sunday, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tested positive for COVID-19 along with his wife, Rosangela Janja.

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Currently, Lula is asymptomatic and Rosangela has mild symptoms. However, both are in good condition and will remain in home isolation for the next few days. This is the second time the 76-year-old leftist politician has contracted COVID-19, while his 55-year-old wife has never been infected before.

The couple got married on May 18 in a wedding that meant a brief interruption of the political campaign for the October elections, in which Lula will run as a presidential candidate sponsored by a wide front of progressive parties.

According to all the polls, Lula is the clear favorite to win the Brazilian presidency since he has managed to capture 45 percent of the voting intentions. The far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, however, has only managed to have at most 30 percent of citizen preferences.

The tweet reads, "Hate burns. Love preserves. With the current government, the destruction of the Amazon increased by 57%. In our governments, with work and respect, we managed to reduce deforestation by 87%. Let's rebuild Brazil together. Let's go together for the environment."

Lula took the COVID-19 test at Sao Paulo's Syrian-Lebanese Hospital, where he overcame throat cancer a decade ago. While he recovers from the illness, Lula will not take part in massive political activities.

This week, for example, he was scheduled to participate in a meeting in Sao Paulo to launch "Quilombo in Congress," an initiative that seeks to encourage Afro-descendant candidates for the 2022 elections.

On Tuesday, Lula would have also participated. in an event with representatives of the energy sector to discuss the privatization of Eletrobras, a process that President Bolsonaro is promoting with great enthusiasm but little transparency.