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French Prime Minister Tests Positive as Covid-19 Wave Spreads

French Prime Minister Jean Castex will be isolating for 10 days, his office said in a statement.

French Prime Minister Tests Positive as Covid-19 Wave Spreads
French Prime Minister Jean Castex. (Photographer: Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg)

French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for Covid-19 as a new wave of coronavirus cases spreads across Europe.

Castex will be isolating for 10 days, his office said in a statement.

Although France has not put new restrictions in place like Austria and Germany, the latest wave is hitting the country “at a blazing speed,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Sunday. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is reinforcing health-pass checks in enclosed areas and this week will discuss opening up its booster-shot campaign to more adults, he said.

French Prime Minister Tests Positive as Covid-19 Wave Spreads

In neighboring Belgium, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo and several other ministers went into quarantine Monday after meeting with Castex earlier in the day.

De Croo, who is feeling no symptoms, according to a person familiar with the matter, will take another test Wednesday and could end his quarantine if he’s negative.

De Croo last week ordered stricter measures to fight a Covid spike in the country, including mandatory telework four days a week. Belgium has one of the highest per-capita case rates in Western Europe.

Austria on Monday went into a new lockdown and Germany said it can’t rule out any measure. In contrast, France has so far ruled out further lockdowns and “massive” work-from-home measures, and is counting on health passes and high vaccination levels to avoid stricter measures ahead of the crucial year-end holiday season.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.