The self-proclaimed president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez, and seven of the eight ministers in her government have tested positive for coronavirus. The most recent case of a minister who tested positive is that of José Abel Martínez, Minister of Productive Development.
Martínez’s office has confirmed the news in statements to the Bolivian newspaper ‘Página Siete’. Martínez is also in command of the Ministry of Economy on an interim basis because the minister, Óscar Ortiz, has also tested positive and is hospitalized.
Thus, the ministers of Foreign Relations, Presidency, Public Economy and Finance, Hydrocarbons, Productive Development and Plural Economy, Mining and Metallurgy, Justice and Institutional Transparency and Health have given positive results.
The bulk is isolated and works from home, except for Ortiz, an intern in a health center. He reported positive on July 12 and the following day he was hospitalized. On July 15, he was transferred to intensive care.
The mining ministry, Fernando Oropeza, who has been medicated, controlled and stable, has also tested positive, according to Ministry sources. Oropeza is isolated at his home in the city of Potosí. “It is symptomatic,” they have clarified.
The Minister of Hydrocarbons, Víctor Hugo Zamora, is in isolation, complying with “all biosafety protocols.” He has mild but stable symptoms. “The authority monitors, via telework, the issues related to the ministry in charge,” they reported from his office.
For her part, the Minister of Health, Eidy Roca, presents mild symptoms, but is stable. “She isolated herself at home and works from home,” they explained. Roca reported on July 5 that it tested positive.
In the case of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karen Longaric, from the Foreign Ministry reported that she is “very well” in health and that she communicates with her team every day. “I am completely asymptomatic, with a lot of energy and a lot of optimism,” Longaric told ‘Página Siete’.
The Cabinet is made up of 17 portfolios, of which eight of its highest authorities were infected with the virus. The offices whose ministers tested positive are:.
On July 2, the Government reported that the Minister of the Presidency, Yerko Núñez, had been infected. Núñez isolated herself and days later she was hospitalized for complications in her health. Three days ago, she published a photo on her social networks in which she is seen participating in a virtual meeting of the Cabinet.
In the case of the Minister of Justice, Álvaro Coimbra, he is the first in the Cabinet to pass COVID-19 and is asymptomatic. He was also the first to donate hyperimmune plasma.
Bolivia registered 1,946 new positive cases of coronavirus on Friday, while 65 people lost their lives as a result of the disease. Across the country, the total number of infected is 56,102 and the fatalities of the pandemic add up to 2,049.
The national chief of Epidemiology, Virgilio Prieto, explained this Friday that, of the 1,946 new cases, 1,245 belong to Santa Cruz, 233 to La Paz, 155 to Tarija, 119 to Cochabamba, 96 to Oruro, 46 to Chuquisaca, 26 to Potosí , 14 to Beni and 12 to Pando. +
Of the 65 deceased this Friday, 17 correspond to Santa Cruz, 16 to Cochabamba, 10 to La Paz, nine to Oruro, four to Beni, four to Pando, two to Chuquisaca, two to Tarija and one to Potosí. On the other hand, there are 17,882 recovered patients in Bolivia.
