BUENOS AIRES

Paraguay’s president has tested positive for COVID-19, the country’s Health Ministry announced late Tuesday. 

Mario Abdo Benitez is showing mild symptoms and will self-isolate in accordance with current health protocols, the ministry said on Twitter.

Benitez, who is vaccinated against the virus, was quarantined yesterday because his wife also tested positive.

More than 504,000 people in Paraguay have been infected with the disease and 16,866 have died.

Since December 2019, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed over 5.55 million lives in at least 192 countries and regions, with more than 333.27 million cases confirmed worldwide, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Merve Berker