Here is the fill story on two top politicians in Latin America testing positive for coronavirus: Two more leading Latin American politicians – from Bolivia and Venezuela – have said they have tested positive for Covid-19 in the same week Brazil’s president announced he had contracted coronavirus. Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official and the leader of the Socialist party, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. “We will prevail!!” tweeted the influential Chavista. Jeanine Añez, Bolivia’s rightwing interim president, said she had received the same diagnosis. “I’ve tested positive for Covid-19,” tweeted Añez, who controversially took power after Evo Morales was forced into exile last year. “I’m OK, I will work in isolation. Together, we will get through this.” The announcements came two days after Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, said he had tested positive and underline the extent to which Covid-19 is sweeping across the region. Latin America is home to 8% of the global population but nearly half of recent Covid-19 deaths. The region has suffered more than 120,000 of the world’s 550,000 coronavirus fatalities since its first official case was recorded in Brazil in March. More than 3 million confirmed cases have been recorded. Brazil is the worst-hit country with a confirmed death toll of more than 69,000 and 1.7 million infections. South Africa confirms a record one-day case increase South Africa has confirmed a record 24-hour case increase of 13,674. Africa’s most developed country is now a hot spot in the global pandemic with 238,339 total confirmed cases. Gauteng province, which contains Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, is home to more than a third of the total cases. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said South Africa could run out of available hospital beds within the month. Here is the full story from the Guardian’s Africa correspondent, Jason Burke: Bolivian interim president and Venezuelan Socialist Party boss test positive Here is more on those two top politicians in Latin America testing positive for coronavirus:Venezuela’s second-most powerful man and Bolivia’s interim president have both announced they have tested positive for Covid-19 - the latest top Latin American politicians to fall victim to a pandemic that has claimed more than 120,000 lives in the region. Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. Jeanine Añez, Bolivia’s right-wing interim leader, said she had received the same diagnosis. “I’ve tested positive for Covid-19,” tweeted Añez, who took power after Evo Morales was forced from the country last year. “I’m OK, I will work in isolation. Together, we will get through this.” The news comes after Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for coronavirus. Cabello’s announcement came amid growing concern over Covid-19’s advance in Venezuela and the potential for its already collapsed health service to be overwhelmed by the pandemic. Venezuela’s official Covid-19 figures - which many question - have so far been far lower than those of other countries in the region. While Brazil has recorded more than 68,000 deaths,Venezuelahas officially suffered just 75.Venezuela has registered 8,010 confirmed cases while in Brazil there have been at least 1.7 million. But on Wednesday, Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, warned the South American country was now witnessing the “real outbreak”. Another top Chavista official, the governor of the western state of Zulia, also confirmed he had tested positive on Thursday night. “We are in battle and stable,” Omar Prieto tweeted. Bolivia has so far recorded 1,577 Covid-19 deaths and nearly 43,000 cases. Summary Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest from around the world for the next few hours. As always, I’d be delighted to hear from you – get in touch on Twitter or via email with comments, questions or news from your part of the world. Twitter: @helenrsullivan Email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com Venezuela’s second-most powerful man and Bolivia’s interim president have both announced they have tested positive for Covid-19 - the latest top Latin American politicians to fall victim to a pandemic that has claimed more than 120,000 lives in the region. The interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Añez announced on Twitter that she has tested positive for coronavirus.“I have tested positive for Covid-19, I am fine, I will work from my isolation. Together, let’s get ahead,” she wrote. Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. Meanwhile South Africa has confirmed a record case increase of 13,674. Africa’s most developed country is now a hot spot in the global pandemic with 238,339 total confirmed cases. Gauteng province, which contains Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, is home to more than a third of the total cases. Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said South Africa could run out of available hospital beds within the month. Interim Bolivian president tests positive for Covid-19. The interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Añez announced on Twitter that she has tested positive for coronavirus.“I have tested positive for Covid-19, I am fine, I will work from my isolation. Together, let’s get ahead,” she wrote. Venezuela’s second-most powerful man also announced he has tested positive for Covid-19, the latest top Latin American politicians to fall victim to a pandemic that has claimed more than 120,000 lives in the region. Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s number two official, announced his diagnosis on social media on Thursday evening and said he was in self-isolation. South Africa has confirmed a record case increase. South Africa announced Thursday its highest daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases with 13,674. South Africa’s health minister has warned of a “storm” arriving and pleaded with the country’s 58 million inhabitants to change their behaviour to slow the spread of Covid-19. Zweli Mkhize said South Africa was still following an “optimistic” curve, with the peak of the outbreak likely to be lower than predicted, but warned that within weeks there could be a shortage of beds to treat Covid-19 patients, particularly in the country’s most populous and wealthy regions. The pandemic has killed at least 552,043 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 12.1 million cases have been registered in 196 countries and territories. Brazil’s death toll from Covid-19 rose to 69,184 on Thursday, from 67,964 the previous day, the country’s health ministry said. The country has registered 1,755,779 confirmed cases of the virus, up from 1,713,160 on Wednesday. President Trump continues to see malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a promising drug to prevent infection from the coronavirus, the White House said. This is despite the US Food and Drug Administration saying its efficacy and safety were unproven. A first case of coronavirus was recorded in northwest Syria on Thursday, an opposition official said, reviving fears of disaster if the pandemic reached the rebel bastion’s displacement camps. Hundreds of coronavirus patients in Romania have discharged themselves from hospital after a court ruling that mandatory admittance of those with no or mild symptoms was a breach of human rights. A total of 624 patients, who tested positive for the virus, had asked to leave hospital and now risked transmitting the disease in their communities, the health minister, Nelu Tataru, said on television on Wednesday evening. Greek authorities say they are ready to re-impose public and travel restrictions next week, warning that safety guidance for the coronavirus is being frequently flouted. Stelios Petsas, the government spokesman, said authorities were “determined to protect the majority from the frivolous few,” adding that the government was likely to announce new restrictions if needed on Monday. The health system in El Salvador is in the brink of collapse as a result of added pressure from the coronavirus pandemic, the NGO Médecins Sans Frontières has warned. In a press release on Thursday, the international health organisation said an increasing number of people in the country were dying from Covid-19 and other illnesses at home before they could receive medical care. Another 1.3 million Americans have filed for unemployment.While the number of new unemployment filings has decreased significantly since it peaked in April at 6 million people filing in one week, it has remained above a million each week since forced shutdowns began. Five million people in Melbourne, Australia, have begun a new lockdown, with residents told to stay at home for six weeks as the city grapples with a resurgence of cases. The state of Victoria announced a further 165 new cases and has been effectively sealed off in an effort to preserve the rest of Australia’s success in curbing the virus. The Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, accused “criminal hooligans” of driving violence in protests that have erupted in Belgrade and other cities over his government’s handling of the pandemic. The interior minister, Nebojsa Stefanovic, said 10 officers were injured during a second night of clashes in the capital. The WHO says it has launched an independent pandemic response panel headed by the former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark and former Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, to provide understanding on its handling of the crisis. The UN chief, Antonio Guterres, has urged world leaders to favour clean energy solutions as they pour money into their virus-hit economies. Governments should exit coal, stop subsidising other fossil fuels, and pressure polluting industries to clean up their act in exchange for bailing them out, the UN secretary general told an International Energy Agency conference by video link. Bulgaria has banned football fans from stadiums and shut clubs and bars just weeks after they had reopened, as the country reported a daily record of 240 new infections.