Chilean President Sebastian Pinera makes an announcement at the La Moneda Presidential Palace in Santiago, Chile, on Oct. 30, 2019. (Sebastian Beltran Gaete/Agencia Uno via Xinhua)

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera and his wife Cecilia Morel are to begin "preventive quarantine" after coming into close contact with a person later diagnosed to have COVID-19, the president's press office said on Tuesday.

Both Pinera and the first lady tested negative for COVID-19, according to the statement.

The two will nevertheless quarantine for 14 days starting Tuesday as a preventive measure, and work remotely, said his office.

The person who tested positive works at the home of the president and his wife.

The Ministry of Health reported as many as 3,238 new daily cases of COVID-19 infection on Tuesday, bringing the total caseload to 649,135 since the start of the pandemic here in February, and 20 more fatalities, raising the death toll to 17,182.