Mexico City – Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he has tested positive for COVID-19, an announcement that comes when his country records the highest levels of infections and deaths to date.
Lopez Obrador, who has been criticized for his treatment of the Mexico pandemic and for not giving an example of prevention in public, said Sunday on his official Twitter account that his symptoms are mild and he is in medical treatment.
“I’m sorry to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19,” he tweeted. “The symptoms are mild, but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward.”
José Luis Alomía Zegarra, director of epidemiology in Mexico, said López Obrador, 67, had a “mild” case of COVID-19 and “was isolated at home.”
The president of Mexico wrote that, while recovering, Interior Secretary Olga Sánchez Cordero would take over at her daily press conferences, in which she usually speaks for two hours non-stop every day of the week.
Despite his age and high blood pressure, López Obrador has not received any vaccine although Mexico has already received a batch of Pfizer-BioNTech doses. He said health workers would be the first to get them. According to the government plan, people over the age of 60 will start getting vaccinated in February.
Lopez Obrador has rarely been seen wearing a mask and has continued to keep a busy travel schedule by taking commercial flights.
Ismael Rosas / Eyepix Group / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
It has also resisted blocking the economy, noting the devastating effect it would have on so many Mexicans living day to day, even though the country has recorded nearly 150,000 deaths from COVID-19 and more than 1.7 millions of infections. A new wave of infections has pushed the health system of the country’s capital to saturation.
At the beginning of the pandemic, when asked how he protected Mexico, López Obrador took two religious amulets out of his wallet and proudly displayed them.
“The protective shield is the‘ Turn me back, Satan, ’” Lopez Obrador said, reading the amulet inscription and adding, “Stop, enemy, because the Heart of Jesus is with me.
In November, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, urged Mexican leaders to be serious about the coronavirus and gave examples to its citizens, saying “Mexico is in a bad state” with the pandemic.
He did not call López Obrador, but said: “We would like to ask Mexico to be very serious.”
“We’ve said it in general, wearing a mask is important, hygiene is important and physical distancing is important and we hope leaders are examples,” he added.
At the beginning of the pandemic, López Obrador was criticized for still leaning in the crowds and giving hugs. The eternal defender of López Obrador’s political style has always been very practical and personal. As the pandemic grew, he began to limit attendance at his events and keep his distance from supporters.
But on Friday, Lopez Obrador posted a photo of himself, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, a translator and former chief of staff Alfonso Romo, all gathered around a table to make a phone call with the new president of the United States , Joe Biden. None wore masks; the foreign relations department has not answered any questions about whether Ebrard has been tested.
Lopez Obrador’s announcement came shortly after news broke on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin about getting doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine.
Mexico’s Secretary of State Marcelo Ebrard said via Twitter that the two leaders would talk about the bilateral relationship and the supply of doses of the vaccine.
The vaccine has not been approved for use in Mexico, but the government is desperate to fill supply gaps for the Pfizer vaccine.
In addition to López Obrador, other Latin American leaders who have tested positive for coronavirus are Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, Guatemalan Alejandro Giammattei, Honduran Juan Orlando Hernández and then Bolivia’s interim president, Jeanine Ánéz. They have all recovered.