Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S acting Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, will not attend this weekend’s G-20 summit in New Delhi because he has contracted Covid-19.
Sanchez made the announcement on Thursday saying that he was ‘fine’ and in reference to Nadia Calviño and Jose Manuel Albares, added that ‘Spain will be magnificently represented by the first vice president and minister of Economic Affairs and the minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation’.
It’s the second time that Pedro Sanchez has contracted Covid, the first occasion being almost year ago on September 25.
At that time, he cancelled a visit to a Socialist Party meeting in Barcelona but said he would continue working, but ‘taking strict precautions’.
Latest Covid infection figures for the last week of August from the Acute Respiratory Infection Surveillance System showed a rise in cases.
In health primary care it was 130.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants- up from a 30 case per 100,000 ratio the previous week.
The highest rates were noted in those aged over 64 years of age.
Sanchez’s absence from New Delhi adds him to the list of world leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, who have withdrawn from the G-20 summit.
More than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union, invited guest countries, and 14 heads of international organizations are expected to attend.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and United States President Joe Biden are among the first world leaders set to arrive in New Delhi this Friday.
Biden expressed his anticipation for discussions on pressing global issues, stating: “Every time the G20 engages, it gets better.”
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