French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for coronavirus, the French presidency said Thursday, though it was not immediately clear where it caught the virus.
“The President of the Republic was positively tested for COVID-19 today,” his office said in a statement. “This diagnosis was made after a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms.”
French President Emmanuel Macron
(Photo: AP)
Macron’s office said it would split for the next seven days and continue to run the country remotely. A spokesman said all of his flights had been canceled, including a trip to Lebanon in December. 22.
Macron’s positive test comes just two days after France took steps to block a second wave of COVID-19, replacing it with a nationwide lock-up curfew.
Health authorities on Wednesday reported the highest rise in cases since Nov. 21.
Macron is the latest head of state to get the virus. US President Donald Trump confirmed positive in October.
The French leadership said Macron and his team were trying to find out where he could get the virus.
French President Emmanuel Macron
(Photo: AFP)
Macron was at a European Council heads of state meeting in December. 10-11. His schedule over the past week has also included a private dinner with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, when he presented him with the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. He has also had lunch this week with European leaders Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen as well as the prime ministers of Spain and Portugal.
He was seen shaking hands with OECD head Angel Gurria.
Prime Minister Jean Castex will also disassociate himself after talks with Macron over the past few days, said Gerard Larcher, leader of the Senate, the French upper house of parliament.
Leaders of the political parties from the Senate and France’s lower parliament, the National Assembly, were also on their own as they had lunch with Macron earlier in the week.