World War II veteran 99-year-old Ernando Piveta became the oldest Brazilian to recover from the coronavirus after the was discharged from the Armed Forces Hospital in Brasilia on Tuesday.
Wearing an army-green cap and saluting from his wheelchair, Piveta released from hospital with military honours.He had been a member of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force during World War Two and served in Africa. “Winning this battle was for me bigger than winning the war,” Piveta said of his fight against an invisible enemy. “In war you kill or live. Here you have to fight to live,” he added.
He was admitted on April 6 after testing positive for the coronavirus and spent two days in the hospital’s intensive care ward after he developed pneumonia.
But he never needed a ventilator and recovered due to his good physical shape derived from life in the military and longevity that runs in his family, the hospital’s director said.
With 25,684 coronavirus cases and 1,532 deaths so far, Brazil is the hardest-hit country in Latin America with coronavirus.
