Argentine leader Alberto Fernandez says tests positive for coronavirus

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has tested positive for the new coronavirus, is waiting for the result to be confirmed, and is in good spirits despite having a light fever, the first-term Peronist leader tweeted on Saturday.

"I am in good physical condition," the president, who turned 62 on Friday, said in a tweet. He had received Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus early this year. "I would have liked to end my birthday without this news, but I am in good spirits," Fernandez tweeted.

He is in isolation, under COVID-19 protocols, but remains on the job. Argentina's vice president is the country's former leader Cristina Fernandez, with no relation to the president. The South American country has been on a lockdown of varying degrees for more than a year against the pandemic. COVID-19 has killed more than 56,000 Argentines so far. Some 682,868 Argentines have been fully vaccinated, with older people and health car workers getting priority, the government says.

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