French PM Jean Castex tests positive for coronavirus
French Prime Minister Jean Castex tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday evening and is displaying slight symptoms, his office told the Agence France-Presse and Reuters news agencies, amid rising case numbers in France and much of Europe.
The 56-year old prime minister’s positive PCR test was announced hours after he met with his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo. Photos showed the two men standing side-by-side without masks inside Egmont Palace in Brussels, though they kept distance between each other. Both wore masks when they greeted each other outdoors with a fist bump and embrace.
Castex, who is fully vaccinated, will be in isolation for 10 days, France’s public broadcaster reported.
The prime minister had already entered quarantine earlier on Monday, after his 11-year-old daughter tested positive for the virus, making Castex a person of contact. The European Medicines Agency has not yet approved a coronavirus vaccine for children under 12, but has said a decision could be reached this week.
Case numbers in France have increased by about 80 percent over the past week. But even as surges in neighboring countries have prompted partial or full lockdowns, the French government has appeared confident that its second-dose vaccination rate of 70 percent puts the country in a better position than many others to cope with another wave of the virus.
France was one of the first European countries to introduce vaccine requirements and a health pass this year, and once-weekly protests in mainland France have largely faded.
But similar requirements prompted violent demonstrations in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe over the past few days.
Castex was scheduled to meet with representatives from Guadeloupe on Monday evening, but moved the meeting online after he had to isolate. In a subsequent video statement, Castex called for calm in the overseas department and reiterated the importance of vaccination, saying it’s the only way to cope with the pandemic.
Castex has received two AstraZeneca shots - the first dose in March, to help bolster confidence in the vaccine, and the second in June. So far, most people under 65 years old are not eligible for a booster shot in France.
He became the prime minister of President Emmanuel Macron’s government in July 2020 and was the public face of government news conferences, in which he outlined the country’s vaccination strategy and pandemic response.
Castex has had to quarantine for coronavirus exposure several times, including after his wife and Macron were each infected, but he had not tested positive himself before Monday.
Source: The Washington Post
