Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim, one of the world's richest men, has been hospitalized with Covid-19 but is doing well, a family spokesman said Wednesday.

The 80-year-old tycoon is "hospitalized only for monitoring and is in very good health," Arturo Elias Ayub told AFP.

The tycoon's son, Carlos Slim Domit, announced on Twitter on Monday that his father was being treated for Covid-19 and had only mild symptoms.

Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim, who has been hospitalized with Covid-19, is one of the world's richest men
Mexican telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim, who has been hospitalized with Covid-19, is one of the world's richest men AFP / ALFREDO ESTRELLA

"He's very well. He is making very good progress with Covid-19 after more than a week of minor symptoms," Slim Domit wrote.

Slim and his family, who control mobile telecom giant America Movil, are worth an estimated $58.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine, making him Latin America's richest man.

Through his foundation, he is helping to fund joint production in Mexico and Argentina of the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford for distribution in Latin America.

Mexico has officially registered nearly 1.8 million Covid-19 cases and more than 152,000 deaths -- the world's fourth-highest fatality toll after the United States, Brazil and India.

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