Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrado – who has long been accused of complacency in his approach to the pandemic – tested positive for Covid-19 and is being treated for mild symptoms, according to his Twitter account.
While the U.S prepared to enforce travel restrictions for a number of other countries on Sunday night, López Obrador tweeted: “I am sorry to inform you that I am infected with Covid-19. The symptoms are mild, but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move on. “
The 67-year-old man was rarely seen wearing a mask and continued to maintain a busy travel schedule, including travel on commercial flights.
He resisted the economic blockade, noting the devastating effect it would have on many Mexicans living on a daily basis.
At the beginning of the pandemic, asked how he was protecting Mexico, López Obrador removed two religious charms from his wallet and displayed them with pride. “The protective shield is ‘Get behind me, Satan,'” he said, reading the inscription on the amulet: “Stop, enemy, for the Heart of Jesus is with me.”
In November, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, said that “Mexico is in terrible shape” with the pandemic and asked its leaders to take the coronavirus seriously and set examples for their citizens.
Mexico recorded almost 150,000 deaths from coronavirus and more than 1.7 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. Hospitals in the capital have been nearly full for weeks, as an increase in cases followed the holiday season.
Adhanom Ghebreyesus did not name López Obrador, but said: “We would like to ask Mexico to be very serious”.
“We have been speaking in general, wearing a mask is important, hygiene is important and physical distance is important and we hope that leaders are role models,” he added.
At the beginning of the pandemic, López Obrador was criticized for still leaning towards the crowd and giving hugs. The eternal militant, López Obrador’s style of politics has always been very practical and personal. As the pandemic increased, he began to limit participation in its events and to keep his distance from supporters.
As of Sunday night, Mexico had administered nearly 630,000 doses of the vaccine.
López Obrador’s announcement came shortly after news that he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday about getting doses of the Sputnik V vaccine. The vaccine has not been approved for use in Mexico, but the government is desperate to fill the gaps in the supply of the Pfizer vaccine.
At the U.S, which over the weekend exceeded 25 million coronavirus cases and is close to 420,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University tracker, President Joe Biden will reinstate coronavirus travel restrictions for non-American travelers from Brazil, Ireland, a UK and 26 other European countries that allow travel across open borders, according to two White House officials.
The authorities, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss the order, also confirmed on Sunday that South Africa it would be added to the shortlist because of concerns about a variant of the virus that has spread beyond that country.
Biden is reversing an order from then President Donald Trump in his final days in office that called for relaxation of travel restrictions starting Tuesday.
The South Africa variant was not discovered in the United States, but another variant originating in the United Kingdom was detected in several states.
New Zealand Authorities said on Monday that the first community case in two months was the South African variant.
In the Northeast China, Tonghua, a city of nearly 400,000, was put under sudden blockade a week ago, sparking complaints on social media that people were left without supplies and unable to buy medicine. Some of them had only two or three days of food ration.
The city’s deputy mayor, Jiang Haiyan, apologized on Sunday for the slow delivery of basic food to residents at a daily meeting. In addition, the local epidemic control department issued an announcement promising residents that five days of basic living materials will be provided to each family at half the price from now on.
Tonghua reported 246 cases of coronavirus, including 50 asymptomatic.