Israel on Sunday welcomed an official delegation from Brazil – including President Jair Bolsonaro’s son – who arrived to review the new COVID-19 treatment developed in Tel Aviv .
The group is headed by Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araujo and Eduardo Bolsonaro, who chairs the Congress Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee, and includes representatives from the Brazilian ministry of health and science as well as two members of Congress.
The promising new treatment was developed at Ichilov Tel Aviv Hospital under Professor. Nadir Arber, and has treated 29 out of 30 COVID-19 patients in a critical or debilitating condition in the first phase of his clinical trial.
Speaking before the delegation left, President Bolsonaro expressed hope that this new treatment would help control the pandemic that is spreading through the country. . To date, 11 million Brazilians have been infected and 260,000 have died from the disease.
The situation in Brazil has been renamed two new versions of the pathogen recently discovered in the country. One variant has spread to at least 25 countries and appears to be able to obtain coronavirus vaccines.
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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, left, with members of the delegation before leaving for Israel
The second variant has caused a widespread upheaval in the Brazilian city of Manaus, which has raised concerns that it is likely to cause a resurgence among recovering patients.
The delegation was scheduled to meet in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, while the rest of their meetings were to take place inside the hotel rooms. due to coronavirus restrictions.
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A Brazilian worker wears a protective suit as he walks past the graves of COVID-19 victims at Nossa Senhora Aparecida Cemetery in Manaus
(Photo: AFP)
According to the Foreign Ministry, Brazil’s foreign minister would meet with his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi to sign a partnership agreement and make a joint statement with the media.
The ministry said Araujo would also meet with health officials to discuss ways to cooperate on coronavirus emergencies.
“The entire trip has been carried out in accordance with the restrictions and in accordance with the instructions of the Ministry of Health,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Last week, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen visited Israel for talks with Netanyahu that led to the creation of a research and development joint fund and possibly production facilities for COVID-19 vaccines.
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Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen at a press conference in Jerusalem
(Photo: Olivier Fitoussi)
Kurz praised Israel’s treatment of the pandemic, saying “the world views Israel with great respect.”
Frederiksen said Denmark and Austria were “deeply encouraged by Israel’s ability to distribute the vaccines” for the coronavirus so effectively that they could not allow themselves to be “caught again.”