'He won another battle': World War II veteran, 99, beats coronavirus
A 99-year-old World War II veteran in Brazil has been released from hospital with military honours after recovering from the coronavirus.
Second Lieutenant Ermando Piveta, who served in the Brazilian artillery in Africa during the Second World War, was brought out of Brasilia's Armed Forces Hospital to trumpet music and applause on Tuesday, local time.
Wearing an army-green side cap, he raised his arms in the air as he left after eight days as a patient.
"It was a tremendous fight for me, greater than in the war. In war, you kill or live. Here, you have to fight in order to live, and you leave this fight a winner," said Mr Piveta.
He served in the Brazilian fourth artillery regiment soon after the country entered the war on the side of the Allies, Mr Piveta returned home with his regiment to defend Brazil from an invasion that never was.
"He won another battle, this time against the new coronavirus," the military said in a statement, adding Mr Piveta was released on the 75th anniversary of Brazil's successful campaign in Montese, Italy.
Mr Piveta's nation is the hardest-hit country in Latin America by the coronavirus pandemic with 1,532 deaths so far, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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