Chief of staff to Brazil President’s Bolsonaro tests positive for Coronavirus

Representational image (Photo: IStock)


Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, Army General Walter Souza Braga Netto has tested positive for novel coronavirus, according to his office on Monday,

Braga Netto is doing well and has no symptoms, the office said in a statement.

He will remain in isolation until a new examination and medical evaluation is carried out, and will continue to work remotely.

Last week, President Bolsonaro’s wife Michelle Bolsonaro and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Marcos Pontes had tested positive for the COVID-19.

Late July, Bolsonaro had announced that he tested negative for the virus more than two weeks after he was first diagnosed on July 7.

Brazil has the second-worst coronavirus outbreak in the world after the United States.

The South American country has registered more than 2.75 million cases of the virus since the pandemic began, while the official death count has risen to 94,665, according to health ministry data.

The Prime Minister had earlier tested negative for the COVID-19 after several aides were diagnosed following a visit to US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Florida, estate in March.