French President Emmanuel Macron tests positive for coronavirus

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday testedpositive for novelcoronavirus,his office said in a statement.

"The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for COVID-19 today,"the French Presidency said on Thursday.

"This diagnosis was made following a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms."

In accordance with national regulations,Macron will now self isolate for seven days. He will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely.

French Prime MinisterJean Castex will alsoself-isolate after coming in contact with Macron.

The French president is one of several heads of state and government around the world who have contracted Covid-19, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump.

Franceon Wednesday reported 17,615 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, sharply up from the 11,532 on Tuesday and 14,595 a week ago.

The increase was the highest since November21 and comes just a day after authorities replaced a nationwide lockdown with a curfew, after easing lockdown measures in early December.

Francecould start receiving the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech in the last week of December if European Union authorities approve it next week.

France, which like many European countries has been battling a resurgence of the pandemic in recent weeks, has already pre-ordered 200 million doses of COVID vaccines.

Castex said he expectedFrancewould receive 1,160,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine by December30, followed by an additional 677,000 doses around January5-6 and a further 1.6 million in February.