French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19. It was confirmed on Thursday by the presidential Elysee Palace.
It said that as soon as the first symptoms appeared, the 42-year-old leader took a test. The brief statement did not mention what symptoms Macron encountered, but said that he would isolate himself for seven days.
“He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added.
After being in close proximity with Macron, French Prime Minister Jean Castex would also have to self-isolate himself.
Castex does not show any signs but will no longer go to the French Senate on Thursday to outline the vaccine policy of his government to battle COVID, his office said in a statement.
Even though she does not exhibit any symptoms, Brigitte Macron, Macron’s wife, is also self-isolating, her office said.
The new world leader to become infected with COVID is Macron, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom and President Donald Trump of the United States have both fought the coronavirus.
In France, 2.4 million people have had coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, although almost 59,472 have died from it.
By contrast, 66,537 have died in Italy, Europe’s worst-hit nation in terms of deaths, closely followed by the United Kingdom, with 65,618.
They were trying to determine where Macron may have contracted the virus, the French presidency said.
In the meantime, his trip to Lebanon, scheduled to take place on December 22, was canceled.
At the end of last week, Macron was attending a European Union summit. Macron met Antonio Costa, the Portuguese prime minister, on Wednesday for a working lunch. He also recently met Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, his Egyptian counterpart.
Costa has canceled official trips and, his office said on Thursday, is in self-isolation.
After testing negative for COVID-19 after he met with Macron on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will remain in quarantine, Sanchez’s office said Thursday.
Sanchez will remain isolated and under medical observation until December 24 and a statement said, will be checked again at that point.
Angel Gurria, head of the OECD, said on his Twitter account on Thursday that he was quarantined and would have a coronavirus test this week after contacting Macron.
Also in isolation following reports of Macron’s infection is Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
Natacha Butler of Al Jazeera, reporting from Paris, said that Macron’s infection had developed a plethora of problems.
“First of all, regarding who the president has been in contact with over the past few days, which of course you can imagine, as a world leader, is many people,” she said.
“We know, for example, that he met the Portuguese prime minister … and he also had a meeting with the whole French cabinet just yesterday, on Wednesday.
“And all this comes really at a time in which France is beginning to lift some of its lockdown restrictions.”
Source: Al-Jazeera, BBC