Breaking: Irene Montero, Spain Minister tests positive for coronavirus, Deputy PM quarantined.
Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero has tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined with her partner, deputy prime minister, and Podemos Party leader Pablo Iglesias, a government statement said on Thursday.
“The minister (Irene Montero) is in a good condition and second deputy prime minister Pablo Iglesias is also in quarantine due to the situation,” the statement said.
“This morning, all members of the government will undergo testing,” it added, indicating the results would be published later in the day.
The announcement was made barely two hours before the government was to convene a special cabinet meeting to discuss an emergency plan of action to respond to the coronavirus crisis.
Although the meeting would go ahead, it would only include those ministers whose presence was essential, and all of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s upcoming appointments would be conducted by videoconference, the statement said.
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The statement came as Spain struggles to handle a quadrupling of cases in three days, taking the number of infections above 2,000 and 48 dead, with Madrid the worst-hit area accounting for more than half of the cases.
Montero attended a Women’s Day demonstration last Sunday.
Irene María Montero Gil (born 13 February 1988), MP is a Spanish politician and psychologist, member of the Podemos party. She currently serves as the Minister of Equality of Spain since 13 January 2020.
Since January 2016, she has also been a MP for Madrid in the Congress of Deputies, and from February 2017 to January 2020 she was the Spokesperson for the Parliamentary Group Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-Galicia en Común in Congress.
AFP
