Philippines' Marcos tests positive for COVID-19

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has tested positive for COVID-19, but remains healthy enough to hold online meetings, his office said on Tuesday.

The Presidential Communications Office said on its Facebook page that Marcos will isolate for five days, without indicating when he tested positive for the virus.

"The President remains fit to carry out his duties and will be continuing his scheduled meetings via teleconference," the statement read.

Marcos, who is 66, was last seen in public on Saturday, attending a family day event inside the presidential palace grounds.

He has cancelled his events on Tuesday, including a visit to Mindanao in the southern Philippines to attend to victims of a bombing on Sunday and people displaced from strong earthquakes and aftershocks since late Saturday.

The President was set to attend COP28 in Dubai but cancelled late last week. 

Marcos previously contracted the virus in 2020, according to his spokesman at the time and received his second booster dose at a vaccination campaign by the health department last year.

The Philippines has recorded 1,340 new cases of the virus over the past week, according to data from the Health Department.

The Philippines has over 4.1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, most of whom have recovered.