(CNN) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has defended his participation in a public protest against coronavirus lockdown measures, saying that he was not calling for military action against the country's other branches of government.

Sunday's protest, which was held in Brasilia outside the army's headquarters, gathered dozens of Bolsonaro supporters wearing the country's emblematic yellow and green. Large signs, including one reading "military intervention with Bolsonaro in power," were visible in a livestream of the event posted to the president's personal Facebook page

In the video, Bolsonaro can be seen at the rally without a mask waving at the crowd and coughing at times. "I'm here because I believe in you. You are here because you believe in Brazil," Bolsonaro said during the live stream, while standing on top of a white pickup truck.

The rally was a protest against quarantine measures imposed by some state governors, Bolsonaro said at a press conference on Monday outside the Alvorada presidential residence in Brasilia.

The state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's financial capital and the state worst-hit by Covid-19, has extended quarantine measures until May 10 for commerce, schools and all nonessential businesses. In Rio de Janeiro state, quarantine measures are set to remain in place through April 30.

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