Leader’s spokesman is positive for COVID

The spokesman for Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested positive for coronavirus, he said on Sunday, the same day the country reported its first case of a potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant that is spreading in the United Kingdom.

There was no word on whether the president had been tested.

Ramirez Cuevas is close to Lopez Obrador, often handing him documents or going on trips with the president. Lopez Obrador is 67 and has high blood pressure, but almost never wears a mask.

On Sunday, Lopez Obrador toured the Pacific coast seaport of Manzanillo and gave a speech, as usual without a mask on.

Also on Sunday, health authorities in the northern border state of Tamaulipas detected a case of the U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7. That strain has also been found in the United States, Canada, Italy, India, Japan, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Scientists in the U.K. have said the variant may be more contagious than previously identified strains.