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South Ossetian leader tests positive for COVID-19; his meeting with Putin postponed

It is stressed that Alan Gagloyev’s test for COVID-19 returned a positive result
South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev Valery Sharifulin/TASS
South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev
© Valery Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 22. /TASS/. A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev in Moscow on Wednesday has been postponed after the latter tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"It has been decided to move Wednesday’s scheduled meeting between Vladimir Putin and President of South Ossetia Gagloyev to a later date," Peskov said. "Unfortunately, Gagloyev’s test for COVID-19 returned a positive result."

"We wish the president of South Ossetia to recover as soon as possible," the Russian presidential spokesman added.

Today’s meeting between the leaders should have been the first one since Gagloyev won the presidential election in South Ossetia last spring.

The Kremlin’s press office reported earlier that Putin and Gagloyev planned to discuss the current state and perspectives of the bilateral cooperation, primarily in the social and economic sphere.

South Ossetian Presidential Spokeswoman Natalia Bosikova told journalists that President Gagloyev was in a stable condition and planned to be in self-isolation upon his return from Russia.

"Upon his return to the republic, Alan [Gagloyev] will be on a self-isolation following all recommendations of his doctors. The president also plans to keep working in a remote mode," Bosikova said.