French President Macron Tests Positive For COVID-19
Emmanuel Macron
The President of France Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, and the Prime Minister is to self-isolate.

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, Élysée Palace has announced.

In a statement published on its website on Thursday, the palace confirmed the diagnosis was made after Macron, 42, performed an RT PCR test, following his developing symptoms.

He will now isolate for 7 days, abiding “health regulations in force applicable to all”. A spokeswoman confirmed they are now assessing where he may have contracted the virus, and told Reuters the President has cancelled his 22 December trip to Lebanon.

France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex, 55, has also been identified as a possible contact case, and will begin self-isolating.

Castex was intended to announce France’s COVID-19 vaccination policy on Thursday, now to be covered by the country’s Health Minister, Olivier Véran.

Macron was at a European Council heads of state meeting held on 10-11 December.

The Guardian has also reported that Macron welcomed the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, on Wednesday, and met separately with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday, with European council president Charles Michel and Ángel Gurría, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

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