President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil has been hospitalised over ten days after complaining of stomach pains and being plagued by a bout of hiccups.

UK Metro reports that the 66-year-old was admitted to the Armed Forces Hospital in Braslia early Wednesday and was ‘feeling well’, according to an initial statement that said doctors were examining his persistent hiccups.

However, Bolsonaro has since been transferred to Sao Paulo, where he will undergo additional tests to see whether he might need surgery by Dr Antonio Luiz Macedo, the surgeon who operated on him after he was stabbed in the abdomen during the 2018 presidential campaign, according to the president’s office.

Reports revealed that the president had appeared to struggle with speaking on various occasions and said that he suffers from recurring hiccups.

“I apologise to everyone who is listening to me, because I’ve been hiccuping for five days now. I have the hiccups 24 hours a day,” he said during an interview with Radio Guaiba on July 7, suggesting that some medications prescribed after dental surgery might be the cause.

The following day, during his weekly Facebook Live session, Mr Bolsonaro apologised again for not being able to express himself well due to week-long hiccups.

Mr Bolsonaro has been under growing pressure from a congressional inquiry into his administration’s handling of the pandemic and alleged corruption in the acquisition of vaccines against Covid-19.

Recent polls have indicated that he could lose in the upcoming election next year.

On Tuesday night, in a 20-minute encounter with the president in Brasilia, supporters repeatedly asked him to look after his health.