Mexican President Remains 'Optimistic' After Testing Positive for COVID-19: 'Symptoms Are Mild'
Ismael Rosas / Eyepix Group/Barcroft Media via Getty Images Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
"I regret to inform you that I am infected with COVID-19," the country's president tweeted on Sunday. "The symptoms are mild but I am already under medical treatment. As always, I am optimistic. We will all move forward."
Obrador, 67, added that he "will be aware of public affairs from the National Palace" and announced on Monday that he had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, securing 24 million doses of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine.
Mexico's president is the latest world leader to test positive for the novel virus, which has infected more than 99 million people around the globe, according to a New York Times tracker.
At least 2.1 million people around the world have died from COVID-19, the Times reports. In Mexico, more than 1.7 million people have contracted the virus and 149,614 people have died.
Xinhua/Xinhua via Getty Images Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador
Like former President Donald Trump, who downplayed the virus and eventually contracted it himself, Obrador similarly downplayed safety measures regarding the pandemic. Last month, the Mexican president said that protective face masks and economic shutdowns meant to slow the virus' spread were forms of "dictatorship," according to The Associated Press.
"You know when I'm going to put on a mask? When there is no corruption," Obrador said earlier in the summer, according to The Guardian. "Then I'll put on a mask and I'll stop talking."
Trump, 74, recovered from his bout with COVID-19 last October before going on to lose the 2020 election to President Joe Biden.
Around the globe, world leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro all tested positive and later recovered last year.
Biden, 78, spoke with Obrador last week, the White House said.
The two presidents spoke about Biden's plan to reverse what The White House called Trump administration's "draconian immigration policies," as well as "the importance of coordination to combat the COVID-19 pandemic," according to a read out of their call.
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