As President Emmanuel Macron of France entered his third day in isolation after being infected with the coronavirus, his physician stated on Saturday that he was in “secure well being situation in comparison with Friday.”
“He’s nonetheless presenting the identical signs of the Covid-19 sickness (fatigue, coughing, aches) which don’t forestall him from performing his duties,” Dr. Jean-Christophe Perrochon stated in an announcement, including that common scientific examinations “have proved to be reassuring.”
On Friday, a day after the constructive outcomes of his coronavirus check have been introduced, Mr. Macron launched a self-made video during which he promised “to report day by day on the evolution of the illness” — an occasion and a dedication that marked a departure from France’s custom of secrecy across the well being of its presidents.
Though it’s nonetheless unclear how Mr. Macron contracted the virus, France’s well being minister, Olivier Véran, said on Thursday that he had most likely not been contaminated on the presidential Élysée Palace however “probably at a European Council 4 or 5 days in the past in Brussels” throughout a dinner with different heads of state.
On Friday, Prime Minister Igor Matovic of Slovakia was reported to have examined constructive for the virus. Mr. Matovic attended the identical European Council assembly final week.
Talking of the final state of affairs in France, the place the variety of new day by day circumstances have not too long ago rebounded, Mr. Macron warned on Friday: “We’ve to be vigilant because the virus is gaining in energy once more.”
France exited a lockdown imposed to struggle again the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic solely days in the past. However the nation is already grappling with a rebound in infections.
“The evolution of the pandemic is worrisome,” stated Jérome Salomon, a high official at France’s well being ministry, including that the upcoming Christmas break may show a “high-risk interval.”
The variety of new day by day Covid-19 circumstances, which had fallen beneath 10,000 in late November because of lockdown restrictions, has picked up once more and reached a median 13,000 circumstances per day over the previous seven days.
In different information from round Europe:
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Hungary’s authorities is extending a moratorium on family and enterprise mortgage repayments till July and halving an area enterprise tax collected by municipalities as of Jan. 1 to assist jobs in the course of the pandemic, in accordance with Reuters. Opposition leaders stated the tax reduce would jeopardize public companies and permit the nationalist authorities of Prime Minister Vikto Orban to exert political strain on cities.
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Northeastern Aragón turned the fourth area in Spain to announce a tightening of lockdown restrictions forward of the Christmas festive season, in an effort to rein in a latest uptick in Covid-19 circumstances. On Saturday, the regional chief, Javier Lambán, ordered residents to stay inside their provinces over the Christmas holidays, making a U-turn on a earlier resolution that the journey ban can be lifted on Dec. 21.
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The federal government of Sweden, which has embraced comparatively few coronavirus restrictions and is grappling with a critical rise in infections, issued a number of new suggestions on Friday, together with the usage of face masks. “We have to do extra now as a result of the medical system is strained,” Prime Minister Stefan Lofven stated. The brand new suggestions embody a four-person-per-table restrict in eating places, cafes and bars, and a ban on the sale of alcohol after 8 p.m. Shops, purchasing facilities and gymnasiums are requested to additional restrict the variety of individuals of their premises. All nonessential state, municipal and county workplaces will shut till Jan. 24.
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Italy will restrict journey between areas on holidays and weekends, proscribing individuals to their cities and cities of residences, from Dec. 21 to Jan. 6, The Related Press reported. There will likely be exceptions on 4 weekdays, when nonessential shops will likely be open, and other people will likely be allowed to go to solely with two individuals from different households per day.
Raphael Minder and Christina Anderson contributed reporting.
