法国总统埃马纽埃尔·马克龙戴着白色医用口罩，周四按计划通过视频会议发表讲话。此前几个小时，他在一周内会见了许多欧洲领导人，对新冠肺炎的检测呈阳性。
法国和西班牙总理以及欧盟理事会主席是许多自我孤立的高级官员之一，因为他们最近与他有过接触。
马克龙在周四早上“一出现第一个症状”就进行了测试，并将自我隔离七天，符合国家标准健康总统在一份简短的声明中说。它没有详细说明马克龙经历了什么症状或他可能接受什么治疗。
这位42岁的总统“将继续工作，并在远处照顾他的活动，”声明补充说。他67岁的妻子布里吉特周四检测呈阴性。她的办公室说，她没有症状，为了预防起见，她会自我隔离。
周四下午，马克龙按计划参加了一个关于法国对世界上最贫穷国家援助的圆桌会议——但是通过视频会议，而不是亲自参加。
他戴着一个高度防护的医用口罩——而不是他经常戴的印有法国国旗的织物口罩——他没有表现出明显的受疾病影响的迹象，说话声音清晰洪亮。他在讲话中没有提到病毒。
法国政府发言人加布里埃尔·阿塔尔说，接触者追踪工作正在进行中。他说马克龙一夜之间开始感觉到症状，他将继续在爱丽舍宫总统府工作。
阿塔尔说:“这种病毒已经在法国和世界范围内传播了几个月，总统和政府已经习惯了在这种情况下工作。”。
马克龙加入了越来越多的病毒检测呈阳性的领导人名单，包括美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和英国首相鲍里斯·约翰逊。
爱丽舍宫表示，特朗普周四晚上打电话给马克龙，获得一些消息，并祝他早日康复。他补充说，其他几十名世界领导人通过短信和电话表示了他们的支持。
法国有保持严格医疗隐私的传统，包括对高级官员，马克龙曾经说过他会释放健康这些信息只有在对他的总统任期有影响的情况下才是合理的。
马克龙和他的随行人员最近几个月很少在公共场合不带面具。法国总统通常只有在发表演讲或在记者招待会上与他人保持安全距离时才会移除它。几个月来，法国所有室内公共场所和大城市户外的任何地方都要求戴口罩。
总统最近几天在国内和布鲁塞尔举行了多次面对面的会议，他在上周末出席了欧盟峰会。
马克龙的卫生部长奥利维尔·维伦指出布鲁塞尔会议是感染的可能来源。
维伦说，马克龙“显然没有在爱丽舍宫的午餐或晚餐中被污染，但根据我们所听到的，至少可能”在峰会上，他补充说，欧洲领导人在布鲁塞尔的一个大房间里吃了晚饭。
一些人质疑Macron的许多活动，因为该国正在实施严格的反病毒措施，包括自10月份以来的封锁，该封锁在周二仅部分解除，现在包括从晚上8点至早上6点的宵禁。所有餐馆和酒吧、旅游景点和许多其他公共场所仍然关闭。
“零风险不存在。面对这种疾病，我们都是平等的，”托马斯·梅尼尔(Thomas Mesnier)说，他是马克龙所在政党的议员，也是受过训练的急诊医生。
欧盟领导人于12月10日至11日举行了自去年10月以来的首次会晤，峰会涉及欧盟长期预算和复苏基金以及气候相关政策的关键谈判。媒体远离峰会会场，但电视画面显示，领导人戴着口罩，通常保持良好的距离——比起通常的握手、亲吻和拥抱，他们更喜欢手肘碰撞——偶尔在房间里使用洗手液。
一位不允许公开身份的欧盟官员表示:“我们没有听说峰会期间有任何其他参与者或工作人员检测呈阳性。”。
西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯在周四早上接受测试后被发现呈阴性。桑切斯周一在巴黎与马克龙在一起，并将被隔离到12月24日。
周三与马克龙共进午餐的葡萄牙总理安东尼奥·科斯塔周四也呈阴性。
作为预防措施，欧盟理事会主席夏尔·米歇尔和其他欧盟高级官员将自己置于自我孤立状态。
德国总理安格拉·默克尔在布鲁塞尔与马克龙举行了双边会议，她的办公室表示，在欧洲峰会后几天，她例行公事地进行了一次测试，结果是负面的。
马克龙的阳性测试也导致几名法国政界要人和政府官员自我隔离，以防万一。
法国总理让·卡斯特克斯的办公室表示，他周四检测呈阴性，但将自我隔离七天。
几位参加爱丽舍宫午餐或晚餐的政治家最近描述了严格的卫生协议，客人们被放在一张大桌子周围，对着麦克风说话，以保持他们之间的距离。一些人说，他们被总统告知他们没有与总统密切接触，因为他们离得太远。
马克龙的检测呈阳性之际，法国卫生当局再次看到感染人数上升，并警告说，在法国家庭准备聚在一起庆祝圣诞节和新年之际，还会有更多的感染。法国周四又报告了18254例新感染病例，死亡人数略低于6万。
马克龙一直是一位经常出差的活跃总裁。他今年的活动有所减少，但仍继续在巴黎、其他法国城市和布鲁塞尔举行面对面的会议。他在本月初对法国进行国事访问时欢迎了埃及总统。
French President Macron tests positive for COVID-19
PARIS -- Wearing a white medical mask, French President Emmanuel Macron went ahead with a planned speech by videoconference Thursday, hours after testing positive for COVID-19 following a week in which he met with numerous European leaders.
The French and Spanish prime ministers and the EU Council president were among many top officials self-isolating because they had recent contact with him.
Macron took a test “as soon as the first symptoms appeared" on Thursday morning and will self-isolate for seven days, in line with nationalhealthauthorities' recommendations, the presidency said in a brief statement. It did not detail what symptoms Macron experienced or what treatment he might be receiving.
The 42-year-old president "will continue to work and take care of his activities at a distance,” the statement added. His wife, Brigitte, 67, tested negative on Thursday. She has no symptoms and will self-isolate as a precaution, her office said.
On Thursday afternoon, Macron took part, as planned, in a roundtable on French aid to the world's poorest countries — but via videoconference instead of attending in person.
Wearing a high-protection, medical-grade mask — instead of the fabric versions emblazoned with the French flags he often wears — he showed no apparent sign of being affected by the disease, speaking in a clear, loud voice. He did not mention the virus in his speech.
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said contact tracing efforts were in progress. He said Macron started to feel symptoms overnight and that he will keep working from the Elysee presidential palace.
“The virus has been circulating in France and worldwide for several months and the presidency and government are used to working in these circumstances,” Attal said.
Macron joined a growing list of leaders who have tested positive for the virus, including U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Trump called Macron on Thursday evening to get some news and wish him a speedy recovery, the Elysee palace said, adding that dozens of other world leaders expressed their support via messages and phone calls.
France has a tradition of keeping strict medical privacy, including for top officials, and Macron once said he would releasehealthinformation only when justified by the impact it could have on his presidency.
Macron, and people in his entourage, have rarely been seen in public without a mask in recent months. The French president usually only removes it when making a speech or at a press conference when he is at safe distance from others. For several months, masks have been required in all indoor public places in France and everywhere outdoors in big cities.
The president has had multiple in-person meetings in recent days at home and in Brussels where he attended a European Union summit at the end of last week.
Macron's health minister, Olivier Veran, singled out the Brussels meeting as the possible source of infection.
Macron “apparently wasn’t contaminated during a lunch or dinner at the Elysee but seemingly, according to what we hear, at least possibly” at the summit, Veran said, adding that European leaders had shared supper in a big room in Brussels.
Some have questioned Macron's many activities as the country is implementing strict anti-virus measures, including a lockdown since October that was only partially lifted on Tuesday and now includes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. All restaurants and bars, tourist sites and many other public places remain closed.
“Zero risk doesn’t exist. We are all equal in the face of this disease,” said Thomas Mesnier, a lawmaker from Macron’s party and emergency doctor by training.
EU leaders met in person on Dec 10-11, for the first time since October, as the summit involved key negotiations on the EU's long-term budget and recovery fund and climate-related policies. The media was kept away from the summit venue, but television images showed leaders wearing masks, generally keeping good distancing — preferring elbow bumps to the usual handshakes, kisses and hugs — and occasionally using hand gel dispensers in the room.
“We have not been informed of any other participant or staff present during the summit who tested positive," said an EU official, who was not allowed to be identified publicly.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was found negative after taking a test Thursday morning. Sánchez had been with Macron on Monday in Paris and will remain in isolation until Dec. 24.
The prime minister of Portugal, António Costa, who had lunch with Macron on Wednesday, also tested negative Thursday.
European Council President Charles Michel and other EU top officials are placing themselves in self-isolation as a precaution.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who had a bilateral meeting with Macron in Brussels, took a test a few days after the European summit as a matter of routine and it was negative, her office said.
Macron's positive test also led several high-profile French politicians and government officials to self-isolate as a precaution.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex's office said that he tested negative Thursday but would self-isolate for seven days.
Several politicians who attended a lunch or a dinner at the Elysee palace recently described strict sanitary protocols, with guests placed around a very big table and speaking into a microphone to be able to maintain distance between them. Some said they have been informed by the presidency they are not considered as having been in close contact with the president, because they were too far away.
Macron’s positive test comes as French health authorities are again seeing an uptick in infections and warning of more while French families prepare to get together for Christmas and New Year festivities. France reported another 18,254 new infections Thursday and its death toll is just under 60,000.
Macron has always been an active president who travels frequently. He has scaled down his activities somewhat this year but continued holding in-person meetings in Paris, other French cities and in Brussels. He welcomed Egypt's president on a state visit to France earlier this month.
