Seventh Brazilian Minister Tests Positive for Coronavirus

HAVANA TIMES – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief of staff, General Walter Braga Netto, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the national news agency Agencia Brasil reported on Monday.

The news portal G1 said he was the seventh minister in Bolsonaro’s cabinet to get the virus.

Braga Netto, 63, has no symptoms and is working from home, according to Agencia Brasil.

Bolsonaro himself also became infected with the novel coronavirus, but announced his recovery more than a week ago. His wife Michelle has also tested positive for the virus.

Brazil has confirmed more than 2.7 million novel coronavirus infections and more than 94,000 deaths, the most in the world after the United States.

Despite the high figures, Bolsonaro has downplayed the importance of the pandemic, often not wearing a face mask in public and stressing the need to keep the economy open.