PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron became the latest national leader to test positive for coronavirus on Thursday, 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 many countries than it did during the first wave in March and April.
The European Union is promising to begin inoculations before the end of the year and the bloc’s regulators are scrambling to approve a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNtech, which is already being rolled out in Britain and the United States.
American experts are due to meet later to discuss authorisation of a second drug made by US company Moderna, as they step up their battle against virus that has killed 1.6 million people worldwide since emerging in China late last year.
French officials said Macron was tested after showing symptoms and he would now isolate for seven days, in line with government policy.
“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.
Macron has met several senior politicians in recent days, including the prime ministers of Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg and European Council chief Charles Michel — all of whom are now isolating as a precaution.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex will also self-isolate.
Macron’s infection came as Europe battles to contain an upswing in infections with several 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.
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.
China, Russia and now Vietnam have all rolled out their own locally developed vaccines. President Vladimir Putin promised to take a jab of Sputnik V, as he used his annual end of year news conference on Thursday to boast about the country’s achievements in dealing with the pandemic.
“Of course, no healthcare system in the world was ready for what we faced,” Putin said, claiming that the Russian system “turned out to be more effective” than others.
Russia is fourth in the world in terms of infections and containment measures have crushed the economy.
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 on Thursday.
Should the panelists approve the Moderna vaccine, as is widely expected, the Food and Drug Administration would probably follow suit soon after, making the US the first country to approve it.
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