RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) – Hamilton Mourão, Brazil’s vice president, has tested positive for the coronavirus, his office said on Sunday, when the country registered 344 new COVID-19 deaths.
Mourão, President Jair Bolsonaro’s deputy, is the latest in a long line of senior Brazilian officials to contract the virus. Bolsonaro, a prominent coronavirus skeptic, was infected in July, and recovered.
In a statement, Mourão’s office said he tested positive on Sunday afternoon, and that he will isolate in Jaburu, his official residence.
Separately, Brazil’s health ministry on Sunday reported that Brazil registered 344 new COVID-19 deaths, and 18,479 fresh coronavirus cases.
Brazil now has nearly 7.5 million confirmed cases, and a total of 191,139 deaths from the virus since the outbreak began, according to the health ministry figures.
(Reporting by Gabriel Stargardter and Ricardo Brito; editing by Diane Craft and Stephen Coates)
