PARIS – French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19, the French Presidency said on Thursday.
Macron took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared” and will isolate himself for seven days, according to the statement. “He will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” it added.
France this week imposed an overnight curfew to help deal with soaring cases there.
There have been two million confirmed cases in the country since the epidemic began, with more than 59,400 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
It is not yet known how Macron caught the virus but his office said it was identifying those he had been in close contact with to inform them of the situation.
Many presidents, prime ministers and royal family members around the world have contracted Covid-19 since the pandemic began, however there is no confirmed case of any figures dying of the virus while in office.
Former French president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing died of complications from coronavirus this month. India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee died 21 days after testing positive in August. The two men were 94 and 84 years old, respectively.
Republic of Congo’s former president Jacques Joaquim Yhombi-Opango died of complications from the illness in March. He was 81.
