Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, in a file image.
Tycoon Carlos Slim has received a medical discharge after contracting coronavirus, the AFP agency reported this Saturday, citing a source close to his family.
The richest man in Mexico had been hospitalized since January 25 at the National Institute of Nutrition, south of Mexico City, after his family revealed that he had been admitted preventively after suffering minor symptoms for a week.
Carlos Slim Domit, his son, said this week on social networks that the 81-year-old businessman was "very well" and was evolving "favorably."
Slim spent his 81st birthday in the hospital, on January 28, the same day he was discharged, according to AFP.
Despite his advanced age, his family and close circle assured the press that he stayed out of danger.
"He's practically on his way out, the engineer did quite well in general," said Arturo Elías Ayub, América Móvil's director of strategic alliances, in an interview with journalist Carlos Loret.
The businessman decided to go to the Institute of Nutrition, one of the most recognized public specialty hospitals in the country, to undergo clinical analysis, monitoring and medical treatment against covid-19.
Your recovery will continue at home.
The governments of Mexico and Argentina signed an agreement in August with Slim's foundation to produce and distribute up to 250 million doses of the vaccine from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
The businessman, who owns a telecommunications emporium in Latin America (América Móvil) and is one of the closest businessmen to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has also collaborated in expanding hospital capacity in the Mexican capital, the most densely populated and affected by the pandemic in the country.
Slim instructed last April the conversion of the Centro Banamex, events venue north of Mexico City, into a covid hospital with more than 600 capacity beds.
The fortune of the businessman of Lebanese descent is estimated at 60,000 million dollars, according to
Forbes
, which makes him the richest man in Latin America and number 21 in the world, according to the American magazine.
At the head of the Grupo Carso consortium, Slim also has a diverse portfolio in the real estate sector (Inmobiliaria Carso), department stores (Grupo Sanborns) and finance (Grupo Inbursa), among others.
He is also an investor in the American newspaper
The New York Times
, the Spanish bank La Caixa and the Real Oviedo soccer team.
Slim's contagion was revealed a day after López Obrador revealed that he had also tested positive, last Sunday.
The 67-year-old president reappeared on Friday in a recorded message after five days of absence and assured that he was "very well" and that he had already overcome the "critical" stage of the disease.
The contagions of the most powerful man and the richest man in the country in the same week were pointed out as a reflection of the complicated moment that Mexico is experiencing due to the pandemic, already exceeding 155,000 deaths and 1.8 million confirmed cases.
With the expected arrival of six million vaccines in February, hope is focused on moving towards a long-awaited recovery after the health and economic crisis.