The Mexican president’s announcement he had COVID-19 just some hours after taking a business flight unleashed renewed criticism of his dealing with of the pandemic, which has left the nation with the fourth-highest demise toll worldwide.
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has a historical past of coronary heart issues and hypertension, mentioned Sunday night he was being handled for delicate signs of COVID-19 after attending conferences and public occasions in previous days.
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The information capped the deadliest week of the coronavirus pandemic within the nation and left questions unanswered about how many individuals had been near the president throughout his three-day go to to components of northern and central Mexico.
“How irresponsible and careless of him simply to get onto a flight understanding that he is perhaps contaminated,” mentioned Jesus Ortega, a former chief of the opposition Occasion of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and one-time ally of the president.
“The issue is he’s the president. If the president violates the well being pointers, he’s setting a nasty instance to others,” mentioned Ortega, wishing Lopez Obrador a fast restoration.
The federal government mentioned Lopez Obrador’s signs started on Sunday, nevertheless it was not clear precisely when. The president introduced his constructive check consequence 6-1/2 hours after the airplane from the central metropolis of San Luis Potosi reached the capital.
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International Minister Marcelo Ebrard, Inside Minister Olga Sanchez and Safety Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez have been amongst high officers who shortly mentioned that they had taken assessments after his announcement. Others mentioned they’d go into self-isolation.
Sanchez mentioned the 67-year-old president was feeling nicely and remained firmly in command of the federal government.
“He’ll get better quickly,” she mentioned on Monday, standing in for him at one of many each day information conferences he has used to dominate Mexican politics since taking workplace simply over two years in the past.
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On Monday afternoon, Lopez Obrador was resting at his official residence within the Nationwide Palace in Mexico Metropolis, nonetheless had solely delicate signs and was not receiving extra oxygen, a senior official mentioned.
Main politicians weren’t the one ones to have been within the president’s quick orbit on his journey.
He was at a dinner on the residence of his former chief-of-staff Alfonso Romo on Friday night time, attended by a few of Mexico’s high company titans. Company included cement large Cemex’s Chairman Rogelio Zambrano and Armando Garza Sada, chairman of conglomerate Alfa, in keeping with media studies.
Cemex didn’t touch upon private issues, a spokesman mentioned. Alfa didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Recognition nonetheless rising
Mexico has recorded almost 150,000 deaths within the pandemic, and Lopez Obrador’s disaster administration has drawn sustained criticism from political adversaries and medical specialists.
On Monday, a senior World Well being Group official mentioned the excessive price of constructive COVID-19 assessments in Mexico seemingly meant the nation has been screening too few folks.
However, polls have proven Lopez Obrador’s recognition rising within the pandemic, regardless of accusations he has too typically downplayed it and put himself unnecessarily in danger.
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Roy Campos, head of polling agency Consulta Mitofsky, mentioned the general public response to the president’s COVID-19 analysis would seemingly cut up alongside partisan traces, with supporters rallying behind Lopez Obrador and critics going after him.
However, with many Mexicans struggling to get medical care as a result of hospitals being stretched, it might develop into extra of an issue if there have been awkward revelations about when the president felt unwell and the way he acted thereafter, Campos mentioned.
Lopez Obrador discovered time to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to agree on Mexico’s acquisition of 24 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine.
(Reporting by Dave Graham Extra reporting by Diego Ore, Stefanie Eschenbacher and Laura Gottesdiener; Enhancing by Alistair Bell and Lisa Shumaker)
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