Few days to election, Portugal’s president tests positive for COVID-19

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has tested positive for Coronavirus.

This was confirmed in a statement shared on the official website of the Portuguese presidency on Monday night.

The 72-year-old who took office in 2016 and is seeking a second term in the country’s presidential election on January 24, is reportedly asymptomatic.

The president is self-isolating in a residential area in Belem, in the west of central Lisbon and has suspended all his agenda for coming days

The president is largely a figurehead in Portugal, where the prime minister and his cabinet are in charge of day-to-day affairs.

He wields large influence nevertheless, and he holds the authority to appoint the prime minister and dissolve parliament