The United States sent 2 million doses of hydroxychloroquine to Brazil.
Billed as a demonstration of “solidarity,” the delivery of the anti-malarial drug was announced in a joint statement on Saturday, which also said 1,000 ventilators will be sent to the South American country.
South America has become a new coronavirus hot spot, and Brazil has been hit particularly hard. After almost 1,000 deaths in a day, Brazil’s overall death toll became the fourth worst in the entire world. There have been more than 502,000 cases across the country of 210 million people.
Last week, President Trump suspended entry of non-U.S. citizens who have been to Brazil within the last two weeks.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Trump have spoken twice since March, according to the White House.
Bolsonaro has faced criticism at home for downplaying the intensity of COVID-19 virus’s presence in the country when it has seen the second-highest number of cases in the world.
The hydroxychloroquine being delivered will be “used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil’s nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus,” the joint U.S.-Brazil statement said.
Trump himself said he took the drug for two weeks as a prophylactic.
The Food and Drug Administration, which approved an emergency use authorization for the drug to be used on hospitalized coronavirus patients, warns it can cause serious heart problems.
“Going forward, the United States and Brazil will remain in close coordination in the shared fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing regional response to safeguard public health, further limit the spread of the coronavirus, advance the early development of a vaccine, and save lives,” the statement added.
The U.S. has the highest recorded number of COVID-19 virus cases in the world at roughly 1.8 million. Other countries have been accused of downplaying their numbers, including China, where the outbreak originated late last year. The coronavirus death toll in the U.S. surpassed 100,000 last week.
