The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, has placed herself under self-isolation after coming into contact with a colleague who had tested positive for COVID-19.

José Alfonso Suárez del Real, the city's Interior Minister, announced earlier that he had contracted the virus, but said: "I feel fine and have advised everyone I have contact to take precautions."

In response, Sheinbaum took to Twitter to announce her isolation in line with health protocols aimed at curbing further spread of the virus.

Del Real "tested positive for COVID-19, I was with him on Sunday. According to protocol, I will stay at home for the next few days, until I take the test again. I am in perfect condition and attending everything remotely," she said.

Mexico is one of the worst-hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic, having reported 480,278 infections and 52,298 deaths.

The country's caseload is the sixth-highest globally, only shadowed by the United States, Brazil, India, Russia and South Africa.

The death toll on the other hand is the third-highest, only dwarfed by figures registered by the U.S. and Brazil.