Negative COVID-19 Test Result, Mexican President: I'm Recovering

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (Wikimedia Commons / David Agren)

JAKARTA - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has tested negative for COVID-19, the government said on Thursday, or less than two weeks after the 67-year-old man announced that he had contracted the virus.

"I am in good health, I am recovering. The results of the antigen test that was taken in the morning were negative," Lopez Obrador said in a video message from the National Palace.

"We have to move forward in this crisis, this health crisis, the pandemic and the economic crisis. We'll be fine, "he added.

President Lopez Obrador is a heavy smoker, suffered a major heart attack in 2013 and has a history of heart disease.

But since his announcement that he tested positive for COVID-19 on January 24, health officials have reiterated that he is fine, with only mild symptoms.

"President Lopez Obrador has had brief episodes of fever and lightheadedness. But there is almost no other discomfort," Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on January 28.

It is known that President Lopez Obrador, before announcing he was positive for COVID-19, had just made a three-day working visit to several places in North Mexico and Central Mexico.

Mexico itself has recorded 162,922 deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic began, or is among the largest in the world. President Lopez Obrador's crisis management has drawn continued criticism from political opponents and medical experts.