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French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged on Friday that he had to slow down due to covid-19 symptoms, but insisted that he is doing well and continues to actively participate in “priority” government work, including Brexit.
In isolation, Macron is working at an official residence on the outskirts of Paris after testing positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, causing alarm across Europe.
“I’m fine. I have the same symptoms as yesterday: tiredness, headaches and a dry cough.. Like hundreds of thousands of you, “Macron said in a video shared on his Twitter account.
“My activity is a bit slow due to the virus. But I continue to address priority issues such as the epidemic or, for example, Brexit “, said.
– Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 18, 2020
Gabriel Attgal, a French government spokesman, told BFM TV that Macron “has real symptoms, a cough and significant fatigue.”
On Thursday night, Macron left the Elysee Palace in Paris for the presidential residence of La Lanterne in Versailles, on the outskirts of the city, a presidential official said.
The woman, Brigitte, whose test was negative, will remain in the Elysee Palace.
The French head of state said he “will be back soon,” adding that “there is no reason to believe this will go wrong,” adding that he is under medical supervision.
Macron’s infection with the new coronavirus comes at a key moment in the negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) to reach a post-Brexit trade agreement.
The announcement that Macron was infected with the virus responsible for covid-19 changed political agendas in France and across Europe, with EU leaders and French officials with whom the French president was in recent days canceling events and kicking off the prophylactic isolation.
It is not clear where Macron may have been infected, but presidential sources said he may have contracted the virus during a European summit in Brussels late last week, where European leaders met for 20 hours.
Concern about a possible contagion increases with the Slovak Prime Minister, Igor Matovic, announcing this Friday that he tested positive for covid-19.
“Today I am one of you,” Matovic, 47, wrote on his Facebook page, where he shared the text message with the test results.
Macron says he was “careful.” Costa tested negative
On Monday, Macron spoke at a conference in Paris organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in the presence of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, who are now isolated.
Already on Wednesday he participated in a dinner at the Eliseo, which was not on the official agenda, with a dozen political allies, including French Prime Minister Jean Castex. Before that, he had lunch with the head of the Portuguese Government, António Costa, who is in isolation (until December 24), despite having tested negative, on Thursday morning, like his Spanish counterpart.
Questions arose about the dinner, as the number of people seated at the table exceeded the maximum of six recommended by the government. Authorities insisted that the table was large enough to ensure adequate social distance.
Macron’s infection also underscored the continuing dangers of COVID-19 in France with the arrival of Christmas, with more than 18,000 new positive cases reported on Thursday.
“I have a message for everyone. Keep caring. The virus can reach anyone. It was well protected and very carefully “, declared in the message.
“Despite everything, I contracted the virus. Maybe it was a careless time or maybe bad luck,” he said.
Commentators and politicians praised Eliseo for quickly communicating the result of Macron’s test, released Thursday morning.
But they asked for full transparency about his state of health, without the secrecy that was often seen when his predecessors François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac had health problems while in office.
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