PARIS – A week after having tested positive for coronavirus for the first time, President Emmanuel Macron of France has stopped isolating himself because he no longer shows symptoms, a statement from the Elysee Palace, his official office, said on Thursday. .
Throughout his quarantine, Mr. Macron – who had typical Covid-19 symptoms, such as fatigue, cough and pain – “managed to remain mobilized on the main current issues in our country and to hold meetings and councils as planned”, the statement read.
Macron contracted the virus at a time when repercussions on infections across France dashed hopes that people could safely celebrate the holiday season.
French health protocols recommend an isolation period of seven days after the onset of symptoms or a positive virus test, but a negative test is not necessary to leave the isolation after the period.
The French president was not the first world leader to contract the virus. But unlike several other prominent leaders who have had it – including President Trump, President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson – Macron has consistently emphasized the threat posed by the virus.
Although it is still unclear how Mr. Macron was infected, last week’s announcement that he had contracted the disease caused a series of leaders who had met him in the past few days to isolate themselves, including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain; Prime Minister António Costa de Portugal; and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
Olivier Véran, the French health minister, said Macron may have been infected at the European Council meetings on 10 and 11 December. Prime Minister Igor Matovic of Slovakia, who attended the same meetings, also tested positive for the virus.
Mr. Macron, who celebrated his 43rd isolated birthday on December 21, used his quarantine period to reiterate warnings about the risks of contamination.
In the statement released on Thursday, announcing his improvement, he urged the French public to limit their contacts and to remain vigilant during the Christmas holidays, “ventilating the rooms, wearing a mask, washing their hands regularly”.
Last week, daily updates on Mr. Macron’s health status were released to the public by Mr. Macron himself, his personal physician or through official statements from the Elysee Palace – a departure from the French tradition of secrecy surrounding the health of their presidents.
On a self-filmed video from his presidential retreat near Versailles last week, a tired-looking Macron said he was suffering from cough, headaches and fatigue. His office reported the first signs of improvement on Wednesday, after describing his health status as “stable” in previous days.
Mr. Macron held several virtual meetings with his ministers and continued the exchange with foreign leaders, as with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday.
In an interview with French magazine L’Express on December 17, the day he tested positive, and published on Tuesday, Macron said he wanted to count on the “patriotic and European” Frenchmen to “reconcile” a country undermined by “Divisions” that persist for three and a half years in his presidential term.
With more than 60,000 coronavirus deaths and about 2.5 million reported coronavirus infections, France has paid a heavy toll on the pandemic. Although new infections dropped to less than 10,000 a day in late November, they have recently recovered to an average of 14,000 new cases daily in the past seven days, destroying hopes that the second wave is over.
On Thursday, the French National Health Authority approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, officially allowing inoculation to start, after receiving support from the European Union earlier in the week.
The vaccination campaign in France will start on Sunday in several nursing homes and hospital nursing units. French authorities have ordered about 200 million doses and have outlined a three-stage vaccination strategy, starting with elderly people and workers in nursing homes at risk.