MEXICO CITY (REUTERS) - Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Tuesday (Jan 11) that he is doing well after being diagnosed with Covid-19 for the second time, in a video message played at a regular morning news conference.

Lopez Obrador, who announced he had tested positive on Monday evening, said in the video he would continue working.

He urged Mexicans to look after themselves, and not to be alarmed as the Omicron variant fueled a jump in cases.

“Fortunately, this is a variant that does have the level of danger as the Delta variant,” said Lopez Obrador, 68.

Health Minister Jorge Alcocer told reporters he expected the president to need about a week to recover, and that he could be returning to the daily news conferences next week.

Interior Minister Adan Augusto Lopez has taken charge of the news conferences in Lopez Obrador’s absence.

“Fortunately he’s doing well, without serious symptoms,” the Interior Minister said of the President before Lopez Obrador’s video message.

"He’s resting, as is medically required, and we hope he feels better in the next few days.”

Lopez Obrador also tested positive for Covid-19 in January last year. 

The leftist leader, a former smoker who had a heart attack in 2013, also suffers from hypertension but his previous Covid-19 infection was light, Mexican officials said.

Mr Lopez Obrador received an AstraZeneca vaccine booster shot on Dec 7.

Critics have attacked the Mexican leader for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that he downplayed its seriousness during the early phase of the health emergency.

He has also rarely been seen in public wearing a face mask, except on planes, and Mexico has imposed comparatively few restrictions on travellers entering the country.

However, he has been very insistent on the need for the public to vaccinate against the virus, and nearly the entire adult population of Mexico City has had at least two shots.

As the Omicron variant spreads, Mexico is seeing a jump in infections, with some of the steepest rises coming in states home to beach resorts, such as Cancun and Los Cabos, popular among visitors from the United States and farther afield.

Mexico, which has carried out relatively few tests compared with other countries, on Saturday broke its record for daily Covid-19 infections as it registered 30,671 new cases.