Paraguay's President Abdo Tests Positive For COVID-19

On Tuesday, the Paraguayan Health Ministry announced that President Mario Abdo tested positive for COVID-19.

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Although this official only has mild symptoms so far, he must remain in preventive isolation for 10 days as ordered by local health protocols. This is the second time that Abdo has quarantined after a trip to Bolivia in November.

Health authorities also detailed the source of infection was a family member with whom the President had direct contact last week. Benitez changed his work agenda to deal with his duties by virtual means.

Since the pandemic first hit the country, Benitez has urged international cooperation to generate early epidemiological responses in the future.

Like most Latin American countries, Paraguay has been facing a rise in the number of COVID-19 infections over the last two months. After recording its first Omicron cases in December, this country is posting a daily average of 3,800 cases.

The Abdo administration holds that 3.5 million people have received at least one dose so far. The low level of coverage is, however, one of the factors that has not allowed the third peak of infections to be quickly controlled.

Recently, other COVID-19 cases in high-ranking Latin American officials have been reported as well. Last week, for example, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) got infected despite having received three doses.