Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has been hospitalized with the coronavirus, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
“Yes, I’ve gotten sick. I’m being treated," Peskov, a key Putin aide, was quoted as having told the Interfax news agency.
Also infected was Peskov's wife, Olympic ice dancing champion Tatyana Navka. She told reporters that Peskov's condition was “satisfactory” and that the couple decided to enter the hospital so as not to expose the rest of their family.
“He brought it (the virus) from work," Navka was quoted as saying.
Peskov, 52, has been Putin’s spokesman since 2008 but began working him with in the early 2000s.
The Tass news agency quoted Peskov saying he last saw Putin in person “more than a month ago.”
Reporters from the Kremlin pool said on Twitter that Peskov was last seen in public on April 30 at a meeting with Putin. It was not clear whether the two were in the same room as Putin has been conducting his meetings via teleconference in recent weeks from his residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, located outside Moscow.
Peskov is not the only top government official to come down with the coronavirus. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin revealed in late April that he had tested positive for the virus. The next day, Construction and Housing Minister Vladimir Yakushev, was hospitalized with it, and Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said last week she was self-isolating after getting infected.
Last month, the head of Moscow's main coronavirus hospital tested positive for COVID-19 after meeting Putin.
Russia has reported more than 232,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and more than 2,100 deaths as of Tuesday.