MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥 Mexico鈥檚 president suspended a tour of the Yucatan peninsula Sunday after acknowledging he tested positive for the cornavirus, having previously suffered two bouts of COVID-19.
President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrado wrote in his social media accounts that 鈥渋t isn鈥檛 serious.鈥
The comment followed reports in the local press that L贸pez Obrador felt faint Sunday morning and had to cancel his tour, something his presidential spokesman denied.
L贸pez Obrador, 69, who has ackowledged a history of heart problems, wrote that he would isolate for 鈥渁 few days鈥 in Mexico City.
鈥淢y heart is 100 percent and as I have had to suspend the tour, I will be in Mexico City and celebrating, although from afar, the 16th birthday of (his son) Jes煤s Ernesto,鈥 he wrote.
L贸pez Obrador was ill with COVID-19 in early 2021 and recovered after receiving what he described at the time as an experimental treatment. In January 2022, he announced he had come down with COVID-19 a second time, amid a spike in coronavirus infections in Mexico.
L贸pez Obrador declined to enact mandatory mask mandates and he refused to wear a mask even at the peak of the pandemic unless it was absolutely necessary, as on airline flights. He famously refused to use Mexico's presidential jet, which he recently announced had been sold to Tajikistan.
Presidential spokesman Jes煤s Ram铆rez did not immediately respond to a question about whether the president would return to Mexico City aboard a commercial airline flight.
The president said that while he remains in isolation, Interior Secretary Ad谩n Augusto L贸pez will fill in at the daily presidential morning news briefings.
That could provide a boost for the interior secretary's flagging campaign to win the presidential nomination of L贸pez Obrador鈥檚 Morena party for the 2024 elections. L贸pez, who is not related to the president, currently trails Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum in most polls on the primary race.
