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French President Macron gets COVID-19, EU leaders in isolation after close contact [Video]

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  • European leaders announced that they will be in isolation after having close contact with French President Emmanuel Macron who tested positive for COVID-19.
  • The EU leaders met during the European Council Summit on December 10 to 11. An official said that no attendees tested positive for the virus.
  • France was targeting to start the vaccinations after Christmas.

As French President Emmanuel Macron contracted COVID-19, European leaders have revealed that they will be on self-quarantine following their close contact with him.

In a statement on Thursday, Macron’s office said that the president, even with symptoms, will be working as usual while in self-isolation. An Elysee Palace official declined to give more details about the president’s condition or where he will spend his isolation but noted that his symptoms were not serious.

France’s First Lady Brigitte, meanwhile, tested negative for the virus on December 15 and showed no symptoms, the Elysee said. She will be in self-quarantine.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested negative as well but will be self-isolating and undergo another test next week.

After the recent encounter with Macron, the following European leaders would be isolating themselves: Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and President of the EU leaders’ council Charles Michel.

As of Monday evening, Macron was considered a threat for contagion, according to an EU official.

On December 10 and 11, all health protocols were followed during the European Council summit. There were no reports of any attendee who has contracted the virus, the official said.

Extending her support on Twitter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told Macron: “I am whole-heartedly with you. Together, we will defeat this pandemic.”

From the Group of Seven countries, Macron becomes the third leader who got infected by COVID-19, following UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump.

EU authorities are working to commit on a compressed timeline to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech as the continent aims to overcome the virus outbreak resurgence. Officials are targeting the day after Christmas to kickstart the immunization campaign.

During a parliamentary debate, Castex said that over 1 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were set to arrive by December 30. In a collective effort with fellow European nations, the prime minister vowed to do “everything possible” to expedite the inoculations.

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Macron’s COVID-19 diagnosis came at an unsolicited time. Currently, the nation is enduring from the virus’ resurgence as the president earned the ire of the public because of how he has managed the pandemic.

Source: MSN.com

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