Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has announced that he has been tested for Covid-19.
The 67-year-old man said on Twitter his symptoms were low and said he was “optimistic” following the diagnosis.
Work From Home
This development comes at a time when Mexico is fighting a ravaging pandemic, with nearly 150,000 deaths.
Mr López Obrador says he will continue to work from home, including talking to President Vladimir Putin about getting a vaccine made in Russia.
It was announced earlier on Sunday that there would be an announcement between the two leaders on Monday to discuss their relationship and the possibility of a Sputnik V jabs being supplied by Russia
Vaccine Efforts In Mexico
The president of Mexico said last year he would try to get 12 million doses of a vaccine made in Russia if it appeared to be effective.
Mexico has not yet approved the jab to be used, but officials want to expand the country’s vaccination program to 128 million people amid Pfizer-BioNTech delivery delays.
Sputnik V has already received accreditation in many other countries, including Brazil and Argentina. Hungary was the first EU to give it a green light this week.
José Luis Alomia Zegarra, chief medical officer, described Mr López Obrador’s condition as “good” and told a press conference that “a team of medical professionals” was taking care of the president.
Mexico has recorded more than 1.75m cases of the virus since the outbreak began, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The confirmed national death toll of 149,614 is one of the highest in the world – after the United States, Brazil and India alone.
