The office of the French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the leader of the European country has tested positive for the dreaded infection, covid-19.
Following the appearance of symptoms, the 42-year-old underwent the test after which he will be going under isolation for seven days.
The Elysee Palace, however, did not mention the kind of symptoms the President is suffering in its official statement.
An official explained that despite his condition, Mr. Macron is “still in charge” of the country’s functioning as he will continue his work remotely, from a distance.
“The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for Covid-19 today,” the Elysée said in a statement on Thursday morning. “This diagnosis was made following an PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms.”
The Presidential Palace further said that it hasn’t been found out as to how the President caught the virus but contact tracing has begun to inform others he had met in the recent past to get themselves tested and isolated.
Mr. Macron had come under the radar and got viral for his recent controversial statement supporting the Charlie Hebdo cartoons that landed him in a massive outrage from Muslims across the world.
The French President’s newly found health condition is also a cause for concern as the leader had met several prominent people in the near past, including a cabinet meeting with all the members just yesterday.
He also had a working lunch with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Wednesday and another meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi recently.
With this development, his Lebanon trip of December 22nd has also been cancelled.
Having been in contact with the President, Prime Minister of France Jean Castex is also going to self-isolate. Though he doesn’t show any symptoms, his meeting has forced him to stay at home and not attend the French Senate on Thursday.
The PM was due to furnishing the government’s strategies over the distribution and allowance of the vaccine in order to battle the virus that has taken over the country by storm.
This week, an overnight curfew was imposed on the European nation after the cases rose up to all-time high levels. Since the beginning of the pandemic, France has witnessed over 59,400 fatalities and 2 million positive cases.
The curfew that starts from 8 pm has all restaurants and cafes closed along with cinema halls and theatres to control the spread of the disease as on Wednesday the nation saw 17,000 new cases, highest single-day registration in a long time.
This has also put drapes on shopping sprees and travel schedules of people ahead of Christmas.
Macron’s positive test result makes him join the list of world leaders who caught the virus, including US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
If all goes well, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that France will be able to quench its thirst with the availability of 1.16 million covid-19 vaccine doses in the country by the end of 2020.
