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Portugal’s President tests positive for Coronavirus just before election

Portugal president self-isolating after getting infected with Covid-19
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa seeking for second term
The country’s presidential election to hold on January 24

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal tested positive for Coronavirus as confirmed in a statement shared on the official website of the Portuguese Presidency on Monday night.

The 72-year-old took office in 2016 and is in search of 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 nonetheless, and he holds the authority to appoint the prime minister and dissolve parliament.