“I tested positive for Covid-19 this evening,” Le Maire said in a statement on Twitter, adding that he would remain at home for seven days. “I immediately followed the health measures brought in by the government by self-isolating at home.”
He gave no further details.
J’ai été testé positif à la COVID-19 ce soir. Je me suis immédiatement mis à l’isolement à mon domicile conformément aux règles sanitaires édictées par le gouvernement. Je ne présente aucun symptôme. Je resterai à l’isolement pendant 7 jours. Je continue à exercer mes fonctions.
— Bruno Le Maire (@BrunoLeMaire) September 18, 2020
French Prime Minister Jean Castex last week tested negative for Covid-19, after he came into contact with someone who tested positive at the Tour de France cycle race.
France has been grappling with a surge in new confirmed coronavirus cases, and earlier on Friday reported a record number of 13,215 for any 24 hour period since the start of the pandemic. The daily death toll jumped to a four-month high.
Epidemiologists blame the increase on a combination of faster circulation of the virus and a six-fold increase in testing since the government made it free.
