New Honduras president tests positive for Covid

Xiomara Castro, who last month became the first woman to win the presidency of Honduras, said Sunday that she was infected with Covid-19 but will continue working remotely.

“The result of the PCR (test) yesterday (Saturday) was negative, today’s is positive,” the 62-year-old president, who replaced Juan Orlando Hernandez, announced on her Twitter account.

“According to the tests it is mild. With the blessing of the Creator of the universe, I continue to follow my Plan of Government to return to democratic and constitutional order,” she added.

The president is vaccinated against the virus, her husband Manuel Zelaya, himself a former president who was ousted in 2009, told AFP.

Castro carried out public engagements last week, participating on Tuesday and Thursday in the celebrations for the 275th anniversary of the apparition of the Virgin of Suyapa, in the basilica in the east of Tegucigalpa.

At the presidential palace, she swore in ministers and other officials and received a visit from boxer Teofimo Lopez, born in New York of Honduran parents.

More than 40,000 people in Honduras have been infected with Covid-19 and more than 10,500 have died from the disease.