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| - Leftist activist and politician Guilherme Boulos, a candidate in a hard-fought election for mayor of Latin America's largest city, Sao Paulo, tested positive for the new coronavirus Friday, his campaign said. The news came two days before Boulos, a rising star of the Brazilian left, faces incumbent Mayor Bruno Covas in a runoff to decide the next leader of the city of 12 million people. Boulos's campaign said in a statement that he was asymptomatic but "will observe the quarantine protocol for the necessary period." All campaign staff will be tested, it said. Boulos's final debate with Covas, which had been scheduled for Friday, has been cancelled in light of the announcement, broadcaster TV Globo announced. Boulos, a 38-year-old leader of the Homeless Workers' Movement (MTST), came from behind to finish second in the first-round election on November 15. The charismatic young activist is running for the upstart Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL). He faces a tough contest against Covas, a cancer survivor running for the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB). Covas, 40, is ahead in the polls, though the gap has been shrinking. He leads by 47 percent to 40 percent for Boulos, according to polling firm Datafolha. In June, Covas was also diagnosed with the virus, which has killed more than 171,000 people in Brazil, the second-highest death toll worldwide, after the United States. Sao Paulo, Brazil's economic and cultural capital, is the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. pt/jhb/jm
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