A 116-year-old Japanese woman is thought to be the world’s oldest living person after a woman in Spain died at the age of 117.
Guinness World Records says Maria Branyas Morera passed away on Monday.
Branyas was born in the United States in 1907 and moved to Spain when she was a child. She lived through two world wars and the Spanish Civil War.
She had been a resident at a nursing home in Catalonia, northeastern Spain, for about 20 years. She had almost no health problems. She contracted COVID-19 when she was 113, but reportedly recovered within a few days.
She used to attribute her longevity to good connections with family and friends, and having no worries or regrets.
Her family posted on social media on Tuesday that she died in her sleep, at peace and without pain, just as she had wanted.
A US research group that studies longevity says that Itooka Tomiko, who lives in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, is now the oldest living person in the world.