Mexican president positive for COVID-19

MEXICO CITY » Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador worked from isolation Monday, a day after announcing that he tested positive for COVID-19, and was absent from his daily news conference for the first time in his two years in office.

The president, who has rarely been seen wearing a mask, stayed out of sight as his country registered its highest levels of infections and deaths yet. He has been criticized for his handling of Mexico’s pandemic and for not setting an example of prevention in public.

He spoke by phone Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and spokesman Jesus Ramirez said afterward on Twitter that Mexico would receive 24 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, though it has not yet been approved for use in the country.

López Obrador appeared “with resolute spirit, working and looking good,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard, who is also isolating and awaiting test results, said on Twitter.

Also Monday, the son of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim announced that his father has COVID-19 and is responding to treatment.