Health

Mexico’s president ‘strong’ despite Covid-19 positive, minister says

Mexico City, Jan 25 (efe-epa).- Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador remains well and in good health after testing positive for coronavirus, his government said Monday.

Interior minister Olga Sánchez Cordero, who stood in for the president at a press conference, said: “I think we can say with all sincerity and frankness that he is well, he is strong and he is resolving all public affairs and will attend some meetings remotely.”

López Obrador, 67, announced on Sunday that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and has “mild” symptoms following a tour of San Luis Potosí and Nuevo León.

As a result, several members of his cabinet who came into contact with him are quarantining in their homes.

Sánchez Cordero confirmed on Monday that “a prompt and satisfactory recovery is to be expected” for the president.

She also stated that she will replace the president at the press conferences which he usually holds every morning at seven o’clock.

This Monday at 08.00 local time (14.00 GMT), the Mexican president has scheduled a call with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to discuss the supply of the Sputnik V vaccine to Mexico.

Mexico has already authorised the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines for use.

According to the Ministry of Health, López Obrador is “stable” and “safe at his home”, located in the National Palace, where he lives with his wife, Beatriz Gutiérrez Müller.

A multidisciplinary team of specialists in immunology and infectious diseases, led by the Health Secretary, Dr Jorge Alcocer, are monitoring the head of state.

Contacts who were recently within two metres of the president for a minimum of 20 minutes are also being tracked.

López Obrador, who is reluctant to wear a face mask in public, was on a tour of the north of the country at the weekend, where he met up close with the governor of Nuevo León, Jaime Rodríguez, the governor of San Luis Potosí, Juan Manuel Carreras, as well as several members of his cabinet.

Sánchez Cordero herself was with the president on Saturday and on Sunday tested negative following a rapid test, while awaiting the results of a PCR test.

“Like other members of the cabinet, I will be waiting for the results of the PCR test. If it is negative, we will have to carry out another one next Wednesday, so I will be working from home until the results are known,” Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced on Monday.

Although López Obrador has defended from the beginning that scientists should design the strategy against the coronavirus, he has also been controversial in some of statements.

Previously, the president has said he is protected by a religious holy card and questioned the usefulness of masks while hugging and kissing supporters on his tours.

Mexico has recorded 1,763,219 infections and 149,614 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. EFE-EPA

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