Portuguese president tests negative after a Covid positive

LISBON: Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has now tested negative for coronavirus after a positive test that saw him cancel all public engagements, his office said Tuesday, two weeks before an election he is set to win.

The 72-year-old head of state had returned an "asymptomatic" positive test, officials said Monday, and he went into isolation in the presidential palace in Lisbon.

However, according to the latest statement, "The result of the test undergone during the night... is negative.

"The president will remain in isolation awaiting to undergo a confirmation test."

Portugal is facing a new lockdown after a record 122 deaths in the past 24 hours and nearly 4,000 people in hospital on Monday.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the Socialist government was preparing to announce on Wednesday restrictions similar to those imposed during the first lockdown in March.

The campaign for the January 24 election, which officially began on Sunday, had already been cut to a bare minimum and suspended on the announcement of a new lockdown to curb a surge in new cases.

Polls predict the re-election of the conservative Rebelo de Sousa in the first round of a ballot with no candidate officially supported by the ruling Socialists.

Last Wednesday, the president spent a few hours in "administrative isolation" after a member of his entourage tested positive.

But he then tested negative and had not been placed in quarantine because his contact had been considered "low risk".