Marcos tests positive for COVID-19

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., has tested positive for the coronavirus, his press chief said on Friday.

Mr. Marcos tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in an antigen test, Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said in a news briefing.

“He has a slight fever but he is otherwise okay,” she said.

Ms. Cruz-Angeles and Executive Secretary Victor D. Rodriguez, both close contacts of Mr. Marcos, tested negative for the virus.

Mr. Marcos, 64, tested positive for COVID-19 in 2020.

On Thursday night, Mr. Marcos’ official Facebook page showed photos of his meeting at the presidential palace with members of the newly installed Private Sector Advisory Council, which was formed to consolidate public-private efforts to address the problems confronting the agriculture sector. Mr. Marcos and a few of his guests were unmasked in several photographs. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza