Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro in ICU with pneumonia

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro has pneumonia and is receiving treatment in an intensive care unit, a hospital in the capital, Brasilia, said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, Bolsonaro’s eldest son, Flavio, said on social media that his father was being transferred from prison to the hospital after waking up with chills and vomiting.

“I ask for prayers that it not be anything serious,” Flavio wrote. He has said he would run for president this year, and recent polls show him and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva almost tied.

Jair Bolsonaro, 70, is serving a 27-year sentence for attempting a coup, after he was convicted last year by a panel of Supreme Court justices.

He was admitted to the hospital after experiencing high fever, low oxygen, sweating and chills, DF Star Hospital said in a statement. Exams confirmed bronchopneumonia, a type of pneumonia.

“He is currently hospitalised in the intensive care unit, receiving IV antibiotics and non-invasive clinical support,” the hospital said.