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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Imogen Braddick

Jeanine Anez: Bolivia's president tests positive for coronavirus amid spike in cases

Bolivia’s President Jeanine Anez has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the third Latin American leader to be infected in recent weeks.

Ms Anez said she will continue to work from isolation amid a spike in cases in the Andean nation, which has banned mass gatherings to try to curb the spread of the virus,

She wrote wrote on her Twitter account on Thursday: "I feel good, I feel strong, I will continue to work virtually from my isolation."

The Bolivian government confirmed that at least seven ministers, including its health minister, had tested positive and were either undergoing treatment or recuperating at home.

The nation of more than 11.5 million people has recorded more than 42,000 confirmed cases of the disease and 1,500 deaths.

Other Latin American leaders who have had bouts with Covid-19 include Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez.

Bolivia is scheduled to hold a presidential election September 6. The elections were originally planned for May but delayed due to the pandemic.

Jeanine Anez took up the interim president role last year (AP)

Political turmoil gripped the country last October when a disputed election led to widespread protests that eventually toppled longtime leftist leader Evo Morales.

Ms Anez, a conservative former senator, assumed the interim president role and initially said she would not run for full office, but later threw her hat in the ring.

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