São Paulo mayor to leave office for 30 days to concentrate on fight against cancer

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The mayor of São Paulo, Bruno Covas, fighting cancer since the end of 2019, will submit a request for a leave of absence to step aside from office given the aggravation of his illness, his private press team said Sunday.

Covas, who was hospitalized until last Tuesday at the Syrian-Lebanese Hospital in São Paulo due to fluid in the lungs, returned to his residence, but decided this Sunday, upon the advice of his medical team, to leave office for 30 days to concentrate on his treatment.

Deputy Mayor Ricardo Nunes of the MDB party will take over on an interim basis after he is ratified in the post by the Municipal Assembly, which should occur Monday, May 3.

Grandson of the former governor of São Paulo, Mario Covas, the 40-year-old mayor resumed chemotherapy sessions last February. He was hospitalized again due to a nodule found in his liver, but he remained in office.

Affiliated to the PSDB party, the mayor has been ill with cancer since October 2019, when a tumor was detected between his esophagus and stomach that metastasized and also damaged his liver and lymph nodes, and has metastasized to his bones.

He became mayor of São Paulo in April 2018 to replace Joao Doria, now governor of São Paulo state.

In June last year, Covas tested positive for coronavirus, a disease he overcame without major problems despite his conditions with a low immunity picture due to the oncological treatment he has been undergoing.

In October last year, Covas was reelected mayor of Brazil’s most populous city after defeating leftist candidate Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) in the second round of the municipal elections last November.