Supreme Court justice tests positive for Covid-19

Justice Nunes Marques during his Senate confirmation hearing. Photo: Edilson Rodrigues/SF/CC-BY 4.0

Justice Nunes Marques, who joined the Supreme Court in November 2020, has tested positive for Covid-19. The 49-year-old justice has already taken two doses of coronavirus vaccine and is showing no symptoms, according to his press secretary. He will resume working from home and will only request a leave of absence if his condition worsens.

Still, the positive diagnosis raises concerns, as Justice Marques took part in an in-person event on Tuesday. He took office as an alternate judge at the Superior Electoral Court in a small ceremony attended by five other members of the court and around 20 staffers — all of whom will be tested and monitored for coronavirus infections.

He is the fifth of ten justices to contract Covid-19, with one seat on the court still lying vacant.

Justice Marques was nominated by President Jair Bolsonaro after backing from leaders of the so-called “Big Center,” a federation of mildly conservative parties which has become the government’s biggest political broker. Since joining the Supreme Court, the justice has sided with the government on at least 20 occasions — including in more sensitive trials, voting against quashing the criminal convictions of former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.