French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for COVID-19
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- French President Emmanuel Macron, 42, has tested positive for the coronavirus.
- The presidential Elysée Palace said in a statement Thursday that Macron took a test as soon as she started to notice symptoms.
- He will now isolate for seven days, officials said.
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French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus, the presidential Elysée Palace announced on Thursday.
In a statement, the palace said that Macron, 42, took a test "as soon as the first symptoms appeared."
Macron will now isolate for seven days.
"He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance," the statement said.
Macron's COVID-19 diagnoses comes two days after the country came out of another coronavirus lockdown, according to EuroNews.
In a televised address on Tuesday, Macron said that the country had passed a second wave of the virus, and that most restrictions would be eased for the holidays, so long as daily infections stay below 5,000, the BBC reported.
Europe is in the grips of a tough winter, due to the coronavirus, but France appears to be tackling the virus comparatively well among the European nations.
According to data releaased Monday by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, France's 14-day coronavirus infection rate is 236.3 cases per 100,000 people. For comparison, the UK's rate is 348.3; Germany's is 341.1, and Croatia is 1,208.8.
But because the country was hit hard at the beginning of the pandemic, it is among the top five countries that have reported the most total cases.
Following the end of their lockdown this week, French citizens are now allowed to travel, and can meet indoors with groups of six people, according to Sky News.
Meanwhile, Germany was recently put under a new lockdown that will span the Christmas and New Year's holidays, and Switzerland has imposed a new curfew to tackle rising cases.
The UK government is also facing criticism for allowing families to meet for Christmas, despite infections and deaths on the rise.
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