MEXICO CITY: Mexico's Minister of National Defence Luis Cresencio Sandoval said that he has tested positive for Covid-19 following which he was advised home isolation under medical supervision.
"I will continue my duties in quarantine from home, under medical treatment and relying on the officials of the National Defence Ministry in keeping with the chain of command," said the 61-year-old minister on Wednesday.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several members of his cabinet have tested positive for Covid-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic in Mexico nearly a year ago, the Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
Mexico's nationwide infections surpassed 2 million on Tuesday with more than 175,000 deaths from the disease, the world's third-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the US and Brazil.
Mexico''s Health Department reported 1,075 newly confirmed COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 177,061.
The country has now administered over 1 million coronavirus vaccines but has not yet fully vaccinated its 750,000 front-line health care workers.
Meantime, Police in northern Mexico arrested six people Wednesday for allegedly trafficking in fake coronavirus vaccines. The federal Public Safety Department said the arrests were made in the northern border state of Nuevo León, though they did not say what kind of fake shots were involved or whether they had been offered for sale.
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