Brazil vice president tests positive for coronavirus; 344 new deaths recorded

FILE PHOTO: Brazil's Vice President Hamilton Mourao gestures next to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil November 9, 2020. REUTERS/Adriano Machado

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.

FILE PHOTO: Gravediggers wearing protective suits bury the coffin of a man who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), during Christmas Day at Vila Formosa cemetery, Brazil's biggest cemetery, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, December 25, 2020. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

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)