France’s Macron in stable condition after positive COVID test

Condition of the French leader, who is working in self-isolation, is ‘stable’, the Elysee Palace said in a statement.

Macron is working in self-isolation from an official residence outside Paris [Charles Platiau/AFP]

French President Emmanuel Macron is in stable condition after testing positive for the coronavirus, the Elysee Palace said on Saturday.

Macron, who is working in self-isolation from an official residence outside Paris, “is still presenting the same symptoms of the COVID-19 illness [fatigue, coughing, stiffness]”, said the brief statement, signed by his doctor.

These, however, were not preventing him from carrying out his duties, it said.

The 42-year-old leader had on Friday announced that he would provide daily updates on his condition via messages filmed on his phone.

Speaking of the general situation in France, where the number of deaths passed 60,000 on Friday, he warned: “We have to be vigilant as the virus is gaining in strength again.”

The French authorities are concerned that the holiday period could see a new spike in infections.

On Friday, 15,674 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours in France, down from 18,254 the previous day.

And the so-called positivity rate – which measures the number of confirmed contaminations as a proportion of the number of tests carried out – slipped slightly to 5.9 percent from 6.1 percent on Thursday.

Source: News Agencies