MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell, who has spearheaded the country’s response to the coronavirus, said on Saturday that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
The official, who has provided Mexico with almost daily updates on the pandemic, said he is still waiting for the results of another test but is working from home.
“I have COVID-19,” Lopez Gatell, an epidemiologist, wrote on Twitter. Lopez Gatell said his symptoms started on Friday and are mild.
Lopez Gatell said an antigen test for the disease had resulted positive but he was still waiting for the result of a molecular, or PCR, test.
Mexico has reported 2,030,491 official cases of COVID-19 in the country and a total 178,965 deaths. Health authorities have said the real numbers are significantly higher than that.
(Reporting by Miguel Angel Gutierrez and Stefanie Eschenbacher; editing by Diane Craft)
