PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, President Elysee Palace announced Thursday.
He says the president “took a test as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced.
He said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of the distance of his activities,” he added.
It was not immediately clear which contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended the European Union summit last weekend, where he held a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He met with the Prime Minister of Portugal on Wednesday. There was no immediate comment from Portuguese officials.
Maron Crowe also held a weekly cabinet meeting of the government on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Kastex and other ministers. The Prime Minister has been on the run for seven days now.
The French president has confirmed that a trip to Lebanon’s Maron Krone, scheduled for next week, is being canceled.
Mron Kron and other government officials have repeatedly said they are adhering to strict sanitary protocols during epidemics, including not shaking hands, wearing masks and keeping distance from others.
Macron is following the recommendations of French health officials to reduce the period of self-isolation from 14 days to seven since September. Officials said at the time that this was the period when the risk of infection was greatest and that reducing it would allow the measure to be implemented better.
French health authorities argued this week that the 14-day quarantine was not well respected by many in the country, who considered it too long.
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