Bronchopneumonia forces Lula to cancel her trip to China

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has decided to definitively end his trip to China until he recovers from the “bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia caused by influenza A” from which he is suffering and from which he is gradually improving.
“On the doctor’s recommendation, President Lula decided to postpone his trip to China. The postponement has already been communicated to the Chinese authorities with a renewed desire to reschedule the visit to a new date,” the government said in a note.
The 77-year-old progressive president has already announced that due to “mild pneumonia” he will postpone his trip to the Asian giant, originally planned for this Saturday, by one day.
Lula went to the hospital on Thursday “with flu symptoms”, after an intensive schedule that took him this week to the states of Pernambuco (northeast) and Rio de Janeiro (southeast).
After clinical evaluation, he was diagnosed with “bacterial and viral bronchopneumonia caused by influenza A” and started treatment with antibiotics.
At first, the trip to China was put on hold, but after a “re-evaluation” carried out this Saturday and despite showing “clinical improvement”, the Presidency’s medical service recommended a postponement “until the end of the virus transmission cycle”.
The head of state intended to travel to China, Brazil’s largest trade partner since 2009, with several of his ministers and a record delegation of 240 businessmen and almost fifty congressmen.
Among the planned events is a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and an economic forum in which between 400 and 500 businessmen from both countries will participate.
In the meeting with Xi, about 20 agreements are expected to be signed in the areas of trade, phytosanitary protocols, technology, development, energy transition and other areas of cooperation within the framework of the bilateral strategic association.
Upon his return to Brazil, Lula scheduled a stopover in the United Arab Emirates for March 31, where he will hold meetings with local authorities, but everything says that it was also canceled before the health staff of the Brazilian ruler.