Ukraine’s president hospitalized for COVID-19

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been hospitalized after contracting the coronavirus, Reuters reported Thursday.

The news comes after Zelensky announced Monday that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and planned to work while in self-isolation. 

“He first went home, but decided to move to Feofania [hospital] to accurately isolate and not expose anyone,” a presidential spokeswoman told the news wire.

“There are better conditions for patients. Nothing serious,” she said, referring to the president’s health.

Zelensky took to Twitter earlier this week to announce the news of his infection, noting that he felt good but also that no one is safe from the pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the world.

“There are no lucky people for whom #COVID19 does not pose a threat. Despite all the quarantine measures, I received a positive test. I feel good & take a lot of vitamins. Promise to isolate myself, but keep working. I will overcome COVID19 as most people do. It’s gonna be fine!” Zelensky tweeted.

The news of Zelensky testing positive came as Ukraine joined other European countries in facing a surge of coronavirus cases in recent weeks. Ukraine has seen more than 9,400 deaths and more than a half-million infections since the start of the pandemic, according to a Johns Hopkins University tracker.

Zelensky drew widespread attention in the U.S. last year as Democrats moved to impeach President Trump over his contacts with the Ukrainian leader. Trump had pushed Zelensky earlier in 2019 to investigate his political foes, including former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, but Zelensky’s government declined to do so.

House Democrats used a call between the two leaders, in which Trump pushed for the investigations, as the basis for introducing and then passing two articles of impeachment against the president late last year. The GOP-controlled Senate later acquitted Trump of the charges.

Two days before announcing that he had contracted the virus, Zelensky publicly congratulated Biden for winning the 2020 presidential election against Trump, after news outlets including The Associated Press on Saturday projected that the Democrat had won the heated election.