New Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday and is isolating for a week.
Press Secretary Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Mr Marcos Jr, 64, has a slight fever but “is otherwise OK.” He will not be able to attend an event at the US embassy and will join a separate meeting with governors and mayors virtually, regarding coronavirus booster shots.
People who came into contact with the president, including his son, have tested negative for the virus and others were being notified that he has been infected, Ms Cruz-Angeles said.
His diagnosis comes only two days after meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila, where neither party wore masks, photographs showed.
Mr Wang is now in Bali for the G20 gathering. His delegation has been informed of Mr Marcos Jr's Covid-19 test result, the Chinese embassy in Manila said.
It is the second time Mr Marcos Jr has tested positive for the virus, the first time being two years ago after a trip to Spain. He was then admitted to hospital in Manila and treated for breathing difficulties but made a recovery.
He was sworn into office on June 30 after a landslide victory in a stunning political comeback for the Marcos family. His father and namesake, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, was ousted in a 1986 “People Power” pro-democracy uprising, after a two-decade reign that was marked by human rights atrocities and plunder.
