Article by Social Share
Paris – France’s President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), his office said on Thursday, sparking a track and trace effort targeting European Union leaders and senior officials who met him in recent days.
“The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for COVID-19 today,” Macron’s office said in a statement. “This diagnosis was made following a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms.”
Macron would self-isolate for the next seven days and would continue to run the country remotely. His wife Brigitte was also self-isolating.
The French leader’s office, which declined to give details of his condition or which symptoms he had, said all Macron’s trips had been cancelled, including a December 22 visit to Lebanon.
Punch Newspapers
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Published 17 December 2020
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was in quarantine Thursday after meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, who tested positive for Covid-19, his office announced.
Sanchez will be tested “without delay” for the virus, and will “respect the quarantine until December 24,” which will be 10 days since he met with Macron in Paris, his office said in a statement.
Germany sees record coronavirus death toll
World
December 17, 2020
Frankfurt:German streets were quiet like Sunday on the first day of a new partial lockdown to try to halt surging infections, as the country reported a record number of Covid-19 deaths.
A total of 952 people died in the previous 24 hours, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control centre Wednesday, a figure that could rise as the hard-hit Saxony region was not included in Tuesday’s numbers.
The RKI said 27,728 new coronavirus cases were registered, a figure close to the daily record of nearly 30,000 infections reported on Friday. Some 83 percent of critical care beds in hospitals were occupied on Wednesday, the country’s intensive care and emergency medicine association (DIVI) said.