A 99-year-old World War II veteran in Brazil who had recovered from COVID-19 had been released from a hospital with military honours on Tuesday.
The elderly man Ermando Piveta was brought out from Brasilia’s Armed Forces Hospital to a soldier’s trumpet music and applause from the medical staff.
Wearing an army-green side cap, Piveta saluted from his wheelchair as he was led out of the hospital after having spent eight days there as a coronavirus patient.
“Winning this battle was bigger for me than winning the war,” said Piveta.
“In war, you kill or live. Here, you have to fight in order to live, and you leave this fight a winner,” he added.
Piveta was a second lieutenant in the Brazilian Army forces during World War Two and served in Africa.
He tested positive for the coronavirus two weeks ago and spent two days in the hospital’s intensive care ward after he developed pneumonia.
“He won another battle, this time against the new coronavirus,” the military said in a statement, adding Piveta was released on the 75th anniversary of Brazil’s successful campaign in Montese, Italy.
Meanwhile, the death toll due to coronavirus in Brazil is 1552 and 25684 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported so far, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.