The 53-year-old right-wing president, who is also a candidate in the elections on September 6, is stable, isolated in the presidential residence and is absolutely asymptomatic – has no symptoms related to the coronavirus – said the Pulmonologist Andrei Miranda to the Cadena A television station.

Being in contact with people who have tested positive, (Áñez) underwent a test to determine whether or not she was a carrier of the virus, giving a positive result, explained the specialist the day after the president announced that she had a coronavirus.

This is the second case of a South American president with coronavirus, after Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro announced Tuesday that he tested positive for covid-19.

In Venezuela, Chavez's number two, Diosdado Cabello, announced Thursday that he contracted the virus.

Áñez, who succeeded leftist Evo Morales after his resignation in November 2019, is in third place in the electoral polls, with 16.9% of voting intention.

Morales' dolphin, Luis Arce, leads with 33.3%, followed by former centrist president Carlos Mesa, with 18.3%, according to the latest surveys published in March.

Three members of Áñez's cabinet, including the Ministers of the Presidency, Yerko Núñez, and Health, Eidy Roca, had announced in recent days that they were also infected.

Áñez said Thursday in a video posted on his Twitter account that he underwent the covid-19 test due to multiple positive cases among his collaborators.

I did the test and I have also tested positive, Áñez said in that message. I will be in quarantine for about fourteen days until I have a new test, she added.

Other members of the government, such as two vice ministers of Health, and the president of the Central Bank of Bolivia, Guillermo Aporte, also tested positive.

Bolivia, with 11 million inhabitants, accumulates 44,113 infected and 1,638 deaths.