İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu on Saturday announced on social media that he has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 and registering a fever.
Sharing a video apparently filmed in a hospital room on Twitter, the mayor said he was admitted to the hospital around 9 p.m. on Friday, with a temperature of 38 degrees (100.4 F).
“I’m actually well now. My fever isn’t bad. Treatment is continuing. There is nothing that can be viewed as negative in a medical sense,” he added.
According to a statement by Istanbul’s American Hospital, İmamoğlu was admitted after displaying symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection. The statement also said he tested positive for coronavirus and that he was undergoing treatment.
“Today, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am feeling well and will be recovering in the hospital. Many thanks for your good wishes and support,” the mayor tweeted.
İmamoğlu, the mayoral candidate of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) running against the Justice and Development Party (AKP) candidate in the 2019 election, was elected mayor in a re-run in what was at the time a major blow to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his ruling party.
There have been sporadic tensions between his İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the central government since then, including disputes over fundraising and measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the early stages of the outbreak.