Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador says he would not wear a face mask after his recovery from COVID-19.
In his first news conference since testing positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24, Lopez Obrador brushed aside repeated questions from reporters about whether he would wear a mask to help contain the spread of the coronavirus.
When first asked on Monday whether he would set an example by wearing a mask, he skipped the question and instead launched into a polemic about his adversaries trying to thwart him.
The popular president is a strong advocate of free speech, and has used his daily morning news conferences to pillory opponents.
Some critics argue he is unwilling to do anything that might make him look like he was being muzzled.
Unlike many of his top officials, Lopez Obrador has shunned face masks throughout the pandemic.
His attitude, however, goes against the grain of Mexican public opinion, which is overwhelmingly of the view that wearing one is useful, polls show.
Following the president’s positive diagnosis, some Mexicans said they thought he could have avoided getting infected had he worn a mask and respected social-distancing measures more.
But Lopez Obrador praised his government for not imposing stricter curbs to contain the virus.
