This archive report was first published on 26 June 2020.
On June 22, 2020, Mexico's finance minister, Arturo Herrera, announced on Twitter that he had tested positive for COVID-19.
"I have very minor symptoms. From now on, I will be in quarantine and will keep working from home," Herrera wrote.
According to reports, Herrera was in close proximity to President Lopez Obrador and other government officials during a meeting on June 22 to announce new government appointees.
Although the meeting participants maintained some distance, they were less than the recommended 1.5 meters apart, and neither the president nor Herrera wore a face mask.
Notably, this is not the first instance of a high-ranking official in Lopez Obrador's government testing positive for COVID-19 shortly after meeting with the president.
On June 7, Social Security Director Zoe Robledo revealed she had tested positive two days after accompanying Lopez Obrador at a press conference.
Mexico has reported the second-largest number of COVID-19 cases in Latin America, with almost 197,000 cases and over 24,000 deaths among a population of 127 million.
