Brasilia health official arrested for alleged Covid-19 fraud

The health secretary of the federal district of Brazil's capital, Brasilia, was on Tuesday arrested in connection with alleged fraud related to the purchase of Covid-19 medical supplies, local media reported.

Francisco Araujo is suspected of involvement in the purchase of low-quality virus tests at inflated prices, with the losses estimated at millions of dollars, according to news portal G1 and daily Folha de Sao Paulo.

At least six other people were also reported to have been detained.

Brazil has confirmed more than 3.6 million coronavirus infections and over 115,000 deaths, the most in the world after the United States.