Spain's Sanchez quarantines after France's Macron tests positive for COVID-19

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has suspended all public activities and will quarantine until Dec.24 after being in contact with French President Emmanuel Macron, who has tested positive for COVID-19, his office said on Thursday.

Sanchez and Macron met on Monday in Paris. Video footage of Macron welcoming the Spanish prime minister at the Elysee Palace showed both wore masks and did not shake hands.

Sanchez, whose wife contracted the virus at the start of the pandemic in March, will be tested for COVID-19.

President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for coronavirus, the French presidency said on Thursday, although it was not immediately clear where he had contracted the virus.

“The President of the Republic has been diagnosed positive for COVID-19 today,” his office said in a statement. “This diagnosis was made following a PCR test performed at the onset of the first symptoms.”

Macron’s office said he would isolate for the next seven days and would continue to run the country remotely. A spokeswoman said that all his trips had been cancelled, including an upcoming visit to Lebanon on Dec. 22.

Macron’s positive test comes just two days after France relaxed measures to curb a second wave of COVID-19, replacing a nationwide lockdown with a curfew.

Macron was at a European Council heads of state meeting on Dec. 10-11. His schedule over the last week has also included a private dinner with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, during which he awarded him the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour. He also has had lunch this week with European leaders Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen as well as the Spanish and Portuguese prime ministers.