…urges persons to stop trivialising the matter

Leader of the Opposition, Bharrat Jagdeo has denied speculations that he is infected with COVID-19.

In a Thursday press conference, he also denied that there were medical workers coming to his home; that he underwent gastric bypass surgery in New York and that he had lost weight in relation to any of these situations.

He said that this goes too for People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Presidential Candidate, Irfaan Ali; PPP/C Prime Ministerial Candidate, Mark Phillips and PPP/C Executive Secretary, Zulfikar Mustapha whom COVID-19 rumors had also being spread about.
“It’s all false,” he said. “It would have been laughable had there not been a tragic side to it.”

Rumors about the Opposition Leader’s health have been circulating on social media for some time after persons observed that he had cut down on the frequency of his live addresses and often coughed or appeared tired during the ones he held.

However, Jagdeo said that he believes that the stories are intended to weaken confidence in his party but all he has received thus far is an outpouring of support. “I thank them because thousands of people, literally, have reached out, who believe the propaganda, to find out if I’m okay and I have to say to them ‘I’m okay’. I wouldn’t have dealt with it otherwise, but it’s all a rumor,” he said. The Opposition Leader said that a stigma should not be placed to the virus as anyone can catch it and he hopes that persons will stop trivialising the matter.