The novel coronavirus has begun to infect political leaders worldwide, and an increasing number of politicians have gone into isolation. There are several reasons: They are themselves infected, came into contact with people who are known to have contracted the virus, or visited the places hit by the virus.
Examples:
Iran
Iran is one of the countries worst hit by COVID-19, and its government has not been spared. Two lawmakers have died there – Fatemeh Rahbar, 55, a conservative MP, and Mohammad Ali Ramazan, a newly-elected MP who died under disputed circumstances, with conflicting reports about whether he had the flu or COVID-19.
Mohammad Mirmohammadi, 71, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, died two weeks ago at a Tehran hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. He was the first high-profile victim of the outbreak in the country.
More than 23 lawmakers have been infected by the coronavirus and isolated, including Reza Rahmani, Iran's Industry, Mining and Trade minister; Masoumeh Ebtekar, vice president for Women and Family Affairs; Iraj Harirchi, deputy health minister; Esmail Najjar, head of Iran's Crisis Management Organization; Pirhossein Kolivand, head of emergency medical services; and Mahmoud Sadeghi.
Italy
Nicola Zingaretti, the head of the Democratic Party, one of the national ruling parties, has tested positive for coronavirus. Zingaretti, elected the leader of the Democratic Party last March, is the first leading Italian politician confirmed to have the disease.
Pierpaolo Sileri, deputy health minister, has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is now under quarantine. On the same day, Anna Ascani, vice minister of education, tweeted that she has tested positive and was showing symptoms. Alberto Cirio, president of the northern region of Piedmont, and Army Chief of Staff Salvatore Farina, is also infected.
Spain
Begona Gomez, wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has tested positive for COVID-19, after joining thousands of demonstrators on International Women's Day last Sunday to protest the gender wage gap. Earlier this week, two of Sanchez's ministers also tested positive.
Irene Montero, the equality minister, tested positive late Wednesday, three days after appearing at a mass march on International Women's Day.
Ana Pastor, the second vice president of the Congress of Deputies, and former health minister, has approved infected.
Four deputies from the far-right Vox party – leader Santiago Abascal, secretary general Javier Ortega Smith and deputies in Congress Carlos Zambrano and Macarena Olana – have all tested positive for the virus. Abascal confirmed via Twitter that he had contracted the coronavirus, explaining that he had gone to a private clinic for the diagnostic after his colleague Ortega Smith was confirmed to have it too.
The UK
UK Health Minister Nadine Dorries tested positive for the disease on Tuesday evening. Six MPs in UK Parliament so far have been in self-isolation in a bid to stop the spread of the disease through Parliament, including Junior Health Minister Edward Argar, Labour's Alex Sobel, Lilian Greenwood, Rachael Maskell and a member of the Scottish Parliament.
France
French Culture Minister Franck Riester was on Monday revealed to have the virus, though he is reportedly "feeling well" in quarantine. Four cases have also been confirmed in the National Assembly, France's lower parliamentary house, including conservative parliamentarian Jean-Luc Reitzer, conservative MP Elisabeth Toutut-Picard, a member of LREM, President Emmanuel Macron's party, Guillaume Vuilletet, and socialist MP Sylvie Tolmont.
Australia
Australia's Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton has tested positive for the coronavirus, and was admitted to the hospital after he woke up with symptoms on Friday.
Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 after she attended a conference in the UK on March 4, and Trudeau now is in self-isolation at home.
Brazil
President Jair Bolsonaro's press secretary, Fabio Wajngarten, has tested positive. The spokesperson joined Bolsonaro on a three-day trip to the U.S. and on Saturday was at U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, where he posted a photo of himself posing beside Trump, which triggered critics in the U.S. calling for Trump to isolate himself and take the COVID-19 test.
The U.S.
Francis Suarez, mayor of Florida's largest city, Miami, announced Friday that he had tested positive after being in close contact with Brazilian press secretary Fabio Wajngarten, who tested positive after visiting the U.S.
Suarez said he is not currently experiencing symptoms and advised individuals who had shaken hands with him or been in close contact to self-quarantine for 14 days, the incubation period assessed by health officials for COVID-19.
Five Republican lawmakers have self-quarantined after coming into contact with an infected person at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) late last month. They include Senator Ted Cruz and representatives Paul Gosar, Doug Collins, Matt Gaetz and Mark Meadows. Meadows is the incoming White House chief of staff.
California Congresswoman Julia Brownley, a Democrat, has also self-isolated after interacting with someone in Washington, DC, who turned out to be infected.
Read more:
COVID-19 Global Roundup: World leaders at risk of being infected