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French President Macron tests positive for Covid-19

The French and Spanish prime ministers and the EU Council president were among many top officials self-isolating because they had recent contact with President Emmanuel Macron.

Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), is seen on a screen as he attends by video conference a round table for the National Humanitarian Conference (NHC) at the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Paris, France, on December 17, 2020.

French President Emmanuel Macron has become the latest national leader to test positive for coronavirus, forcing several other European politicians into quarantine as the continent becomes the first region to pass 500,000 deaths.

Europe is battling a winter surge that has placed it at the heart of the global pandemic once again, the disease biting harder in countries including Germany than it did during the first wave in March and April.

The European Union is under massive pressure to approve potential vaccines after Britain and the United States began rolling out a drug produced by Pfizer and BioNtech.

Immunisation in EU

The bloc has promised to begin inoculations with the Pfizer drug before the end of the year and late on Thursday said it would fast-track a second vaccine made by US firm Moderna, with approval now scheduled for January 6, a week earlier than previously planned.

The Moderna vaccine is also on the cusp of approval in the United States, where an expert panel began a live-streamed debate on Thursday on whether to authorise the drug.

As the US fights back against the virus, Macron's challenges are mounting – he was tested after showing symptoms of the disease and is now isolating for seven days as his country faces its own upsurge in cases.

"He will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely," his office said in a statement.

The French leader joins US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who were both treated in hospital after contracting the virus.

Other politicians who have had contact with him have also gone into isolation, including European Council chief Charles Michel, the prime ministers of Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain and Macron's own prime minister Jean Castex.

Returning to lockdowns

Several European countries returning to lockdowns, curfews and other restrictions as fears grow of an explosion in cases after the Christmas holidays.

Germany, which began a new partial lockdown this week, reported a record 30,000 new infections on Thursday.

"It feels like a Sunday," said Ines Kumpl, 57, looking out at the deserted streets of Berlin on the first day of the new restrictions. "These measures are necessary but it's stressful."

Denmark, France, Turkey and the Netherlands have all strengthened curbs recently and Bulgaria said on Thursday its restrictions would carry on until the end of January.

The EU is to start inoculations on December 27, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

"It's Europe's moment. On 27, 28 and 29 December vaccination will start across the EU," she tweeted.

China and Russia have been using locally developed vaccines.

Vaccines are now the great hope to end the punishing cycle of virus surges followed by economically devastating shutdowns endured by hundreds of millions since the virus emerged in China late last year.

In Latin America, one of the worst-hit regions, some 30 million jobs have been lost during the pandemic, according to a report the International Labor Organization released on Thursday.

"Employment is in an intensive care unit, we need to take the necessary measures to get out of this healthily," said ILO regional director Vinicius Pinheiro.

'Challenges and uncertainties'

With the US continuing to set records for deaths and infections, many are pinning their hopes on approval of the Moderna vaccine at the experts' panel -- a move that would be likely to lead to its rollout by next week.

However, Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell warned on Wednesday of "significant challenges and uncertainties" with the timing, production, and distribution of vaccines.

Illustrating his point, US officials have already had to revise a fact sheet given to those receiving the Pfizer dose after two people suffered allergic reactions.

The US began rolling out the Pfizer jabs on Monday, hoping to have 20 million people immunised in December, with healthcare workers and long-term care residents at the front of the queue.

Senior officials have been pressed into service to convince the public that the vaccines are safe.

The White House said Vice President Mike Pence and his wife would get the vaccine on Friday in public, adding that Trump was "absolutely open to taking the vaccine".

SOURCE: AFP