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PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19, the presidency said on Thursday (December 17), although it was not clear at this stage where he had contracted the virus.
“The president tested positive for COVID-19 today (Thursday),” he said in a statement, adding that he had been examined after “the appearance of the first symptoms.”
Macron now, according to national regulations, “will self-isolate for seven days,” he said, adding that he will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely.
A spokeswoman said all his trips had been canceled, including an upcoming visit to Lebanon on December 22.
They added that he was trying to assess where he might have contracted the virus.
Macron was at a meeting of heads of state of the European Council on December 10-11.
READ: France may start COVID-19 vaccines in the last week of December: PM
His schedule over the past week has also included a private dinner with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during which Macron awarded him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor.
The French president 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 the head of the OECD, Angel Gurría.
Prime Minister Jean Castex will also isolate himself after coming into contact with Macron in recent days, said Gerard Larcher, head of the Senate, the upper house of the French parliament.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will also be in quarantine until December 24, his office said in a statement. The two leaders had met in Paris on Monday.
The French president is one of several heads of state and government around the world who have contracted COVID-19, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump.
Johnson sent his best wishes to Macron on Thursday after the French president tested positive for COVID-19.
“I’m sorry to hear that my friend Emmanuel Macron tested positive for coronavirus. We all wish them a speedy recovery,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. He also posted the same message in French.
France earlier this week eased restrictions imposed to fight the second wave of the coronavirus, but infection rates remain high.
READ: New COVID-19 cases in France rise, hospitalizations resume downward trend
There is still a nationwide nightly curfew starting at 8 pm to stop the spread of the virus, while restaurants and cafes as well as theaters and cinemas remain closed.
More than 59,300 people have died in France from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to official figures.
The record of more than 17,000 new cases on Wednesday alone has also raised concern as people shop and travel with greater intensity before the Christmas holidays.
Like other EU states, France is hoping for a vaccine to quell the virus and Castex said Wednesday that the country will receive around 1.16 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year.
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