These are all the world leaders and politicians who have tested positive for coronavirus

These are all the world leaders and politicians who have tested positive for coronavirus (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)These are all the world leaders and politicians who have tested positive for coronavirus (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
These are all the world leaders and politicians who have tested positive for coronavirus (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Just days after mocking his Democratic rival for wearing a mask too often during the US Presidential Debate, Donald Trump has tested positive for Covid-19, as has his wife, Melania Trump.

Now officially seven months into the pandemic, the novel coronavirus has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and infected millions of people worldwide.

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Though the overall impact of the pandemic has been felt unevenly, as Donald Trump’s diagnosis shows, the world’s rich and powerful have not been immune.

Which other world leaders have had Coronavirus?

Back in March, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tested positive for the virus and was admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in London.

His condition deteriorated relatively quickly, leading to the PM spending three nights in intensive care, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab briefed to take up his duties while he was out of action.

After being tested a number of times following many suspected interactions with people who later found they had the virus, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tested positive in July.

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Earlier in the year, he had been quoted as saying he wasn’t concerned about falling ill, as he has an “athlete’s background”. He spent several weeks self-isolating, which he left after testing negative, and has since recovered.

A number of parallels have been drawn between the three most high profile world leaders to contract the disease and their relatively laidback attitude toward coronavirus, particularly during the early stages of the outbreak.

Boris Johnson had been criticised for seeming to play down the threat of the virus a few weeks before his diagnosis, when he said he had shaken hands with “everybody” he had met while visiting a hospital treating coronavirus patients.

Donald Trump has courted controversy throughout the pandemic by going ahead with mass rallies, despite social distancing guidelines, playing down the threat of the virus, and even appearing to suggest bizzare home remedies.

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Other world leaders to have caught the virus include the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, Bolivia’s President, Jeanine Añes, and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.

Which UK politicians have had coronavirus?

The MSP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, Margaret Farrier, had the SNP whip removed on 1 October, after contracting the virus and then travelling on public transport twice before self-isolating at home.

A number of other MPs have tested positive for the virus, including Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who announced that he had tested positive at the same time as the Prime Minister, as well as Nadine Dorries, Kate Osborne and Lloyd Russel-Moyle.

The UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Chris Whitty, announced that he would be self-isolating after showing symptoms, following the announcements by Boris Johnson and Matt Hancock.

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Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, faced many calls to resign after he travelled across the country despite suffering with coronavirus symptoms.

Both David Frost and Michel Barnier, the UK and EU’s chief Brexit negotiators, also tested positive for the virus, back in March.

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