26/02/2023

The deadly virus has spread to the corridors of power across the world, catching up with royals, political leaders and business giants.

The US and Brazil are among the hardest hit countries in the pandemic.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among the first leaders to contract coronavirus, testing positive in March after his Health Secretary Matt Hancock and others at Downing Street were confirmed as cases.
The 55-year-old conceded his fate “could have gone either way”, after 10 days in hospital in London, including a stint in intensive care and serious ill-health.
Days later, Britain’s Prince Charles tested positive, showing only mild symptoms and remaining in good spirits during his recovery out of the public eye.
The European Unions chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, tested positive on March 19.
Peter Dutton tested positive after a trip to the US.  AP
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton tested positive on March 13, waking up with a temperature and sore throat days after a visit to the United States.
Hospitalised as he fought the virus, Mr Dutton had met with security ministers from the Five Eyes intelligence network in Washington days earlier.
He posed for photos with US Attorney-General William Barr and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, Mr Trump’s daughter.
US Republican Senator Rand Paul was the first person on Capitol Hill to test positive, sending high-profile politicians including Ted Cruz, Rick Scott and Lindsey Graham into quarantine.
In Canberra, Senators Susan McDonald and Andrew Bragg also tested positive.
Belgium’s Prince Joachim is among international royals to contract the virus, along with Monaco’s Prince Albert, who underwent two weeks’ quarantine away from advisers and family. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz Al Saud also tested positive.
The leader of Ireland’s Sinn Fein party, Mary Lou McDonald, confirmed she had contracted COVID-19 after a pupil in her childs tested positive in March.
Yaakov Litzman, Israel’s health minister, and his wife tested positive, news that sent many of the country’s leaders into quarantine.
Police have recommended charges against Mr Litzman, after he allegedly pressured psychiatrists to alter the conclusions of mental health reports about the former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer, accused of child sexual abuse.
Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin tested positive, along with Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for President Vladimir Putin.
Begoña Gómez, the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadia’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, are among family members of world leaders to test positive.
Former Italian prime minister and renowned party animal Silvio Berlusconi was hospitalised in the country’s last month after testing positive.
“It has been the most dangerous test of my life,” he said as he left hospital in Milan, adding that he “dodged a bullet once again”.