RIO DE JANEIRO, March 18. /TASS/. The head of Brazil’s Institutional Security Cabinet General Augusto Heleno announced Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with coronavirus. The general is one of President Jair Bolsonaro’s closest allies and was part of the delegation that visited the US between March 7 and 10.

"I announce that my second [coronavirus] test, taken in Brasilia’s military hospital, was positive," he tweeted, adding that he feels well, does not have elevated temperature or other symptoms.

"I remain isolated at home and I do not respond to phone calls," the 72-year old official concluded.

Besides Heleno, 14 other delegation members have been diagnosed with the coronavirus infection.

Last week, Bolsonaro’s spokesman, Fabio Weingarten, who also accompanied the President on his trip to the US, was also diagnosed with coronavirus. During the trip, he was close to the president and contacted him directly. Besides, the official posted a photo on Instagram, where he stands next to US President Donald Trump and US Vice President Mike Pence.

Weingarten is quarantined, while Bolsonaro and other members of the delegation were tested for coronavirus. On March 17, Bolsonaro’s control test returned negative results.

Coronavirus statistics

The first infection case in Brazil was confirmed on February 26, the day after carnival festivities ended. Currently, there are 290 cases in 17 regions of the republic. Two cases were lethal.

Earlier, Bolsonaro doubted the scale of the coronavirus threat, saying that the media inflate the situation.

The coronavirus outbreak was registered in central China at the end of December 2019. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared it a pandemic. COVID-19 infection cases have been recorded in more than 160 countries. According to the latest data, over 190,000 people have contracted the virus; about 8,000 of them have died. A total of 147 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia as yet.