Sonia Gandhi, a prominent public figure in India and the chairman of the opposition Indian National Congress party, has been hospitalized in Delhi with “Covid-related problems,” the party said on Sunday.
Ms Gandhi, 75, was in stable condition, a party spokesman said on Twitter† She tested positive for the coronavirus on June 2† Her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadrareported her own positive test result the next day.
The Indian National Congress has ruled India for most of its history since independence from British rule in 1947, but in recent years its power has declined, while Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party established itself as a dominant force in national elections.
Mrs. Gandhi was born in Italy and married in the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. She was pushed into politics after the murders of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, and her husband, Rajiv Gandhi. In the 2010s, she was often ranked as one of the most powerful women in the world.
The party usually keeps quiet about its health. She disappeared from the public eye in 2011 to undergo surgery for an undisclosed condition that Indian media later reported was cancer.
According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, India reported an average of nearly 6,800 new cases per day on Sunday. The figure, which has nearly tripled from two weeks ago, is likely a significant undercount, due to a decline in testing and fatigue from the pandemic.
Other political figures around the world have also recently tested positive, including New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and, most recently, Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who announced his result on Monday.
“I feel good, but that’s because I got my photos,” Mr Trudeau wrote on Twitter. He also tested positive in January, a few weeks after receiving a booster vaccination.
Sarah Lovenheim, a spokeswoman for Xavier Becerra, the secretary of health and human services, said Monday that Mr Becerra, who has been vaccinated and boosted, tested positive and had mild symptoms. Mr Becerra, who also tested positive in mid-May and was at the summit last week, “will continue to perform his duties as secretary of HHS in seclusion,” Ms Lovenheim said.
Neither Mr. Trudeau nor Mr. Becerra had close contact with Biden “as defined by the CDC,” said Kevin Munoz, a White House spokesman. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines close contact as being less than two meters away from an infected person for 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, a Republican, canceled a scheduled Monday performance with Mike Pence, the former vice president, after the governor tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, according to CJ Karamargin, Mr. Ducey’s spokesman. mr. Ducey, 58, is fully vaccinated, has received at least one booster, has no symptoms and works from home, Mr. Karamargin.