PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday.
It said the president took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared.” The brief statement did not say what symptoms Macron experienced.
It said he would isolate himself for seven days. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added.
It was not immediately clear what contact tracing efforts were in progress. Macron attended a European Union summit at the end of last week, where he notably had a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. He met Wednesday with the prime minister of Portugal. There was no immediate comment from Portuguese officials.
Macron on Wednesday also held the government’s weekly Cabinet meeting in the presence of Prime Minister Jean Castex and other ministers. Castex’s office said that the prime minister is also self-isolating for seven days.
The French presidency confirmed that Macron’s trip to Lebanon scheduled for next week is being canceled.
Macron and other government officials repeatedly say that they are sticking to strict sanitary protocols during the pandemic, including not shaking hands, wearing a mask and keeping distance from other people.
Macron is following French health authorities’ recommendations that since September have reduced the self-isolation time from 14 days to seven. Authorities said at the time that this is the period when there is the greatest risk of contagion and that reducing it allows better enforcement of the measure.
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.
Come on 2020 be over already
I’m a little worried about France. I had planned a return trip there and had to postpone due to Covid. It was a close call when Macron beat out that Nationalist woman, Marie Le Pen. With the issues they are having now with some of the muslim population cutting teacher’s heads off and what not, I’m concerned they’ll end up with the French version of trump.
In that case, they will suffer. Much more than simple indignities, as we have.
That would be unfortunate.
Macron’s positive test had a domino effect across Europe—Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been forced to self-isolate after meeting Macron on Monday, as has Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. French Prime Minister Jean Castex and the parliament speaker, Richard Ferrand, will also isolate.
Daily Beast
Glad I got my last trip in almost 3 years ago before the destruction of Notre Dame and then all the Covid hell.
This is how it used to look.
The times I’ve been, I felt like the Muslims have kept a very low profile. I would notice them in markets but not so much in every day walking down the street. The day I was leaving for the airport I did see police breaking up an encampment of homeless people. The only time I ever saw this and I was there for 2 months, but only in Paris for a short time.