Argentina’s president taken to private hospital

By Bala Chambers

BUENOS AIRES (AA) - Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has been taken to a private hospital in central Buenos Aires after suffering from acute lower back pain, according to a statement Tuesday from his medical team.

Fernandez will undergo studies to determine "a specific treatment," the statement said.

It added that the public will be kept informed about the president's health.

The statement was signed by Dr. Federico Saavedra, who according to the local daily Infobae is Fernandez's personal physician and has been treating him for more than a decade.

On Tuesday, Fernandez carried out his duties from his official residence at Quinta de Olivos in Buenos Aires, marking the second consecutive day he did not travel to the Casa Rosada or the presidential palace, according to the Noticias Argentinas news agency.

Fernandez has had health issues in recent months. During a trip to Bali, Indonesia in November last year to attend the G20 summit, he suffered from erosive gastritis and was transported to a local hospital.

In April 2021, Fernandez also became infected with the coronavirus.

In June 2019 while he was a pre-candidate for his political party Frente de Todos ahead of presidential elections that year, he was admitted to a private hospital after being diagnosed with pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining of the lungs which typically causes sharp chest pains.