French Prime Minister Jean Costex tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday evening, prompting his Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Groo to isolate himself with four ministers.
Everyone gathered in Brussels in the morning for a meeting on security. Five Belgian officials will be subjected to PCR testing and will remain in isolation until the test results are negative, the Belgian prime minister’s cabinet said.
They are Ministers Sophie Wilmes (Foreign Affairs), Ludwig Tetonder (Defense), Anneliese Verlindon (Interior) and Vincent van Quickenborn (Justice).
After a press conference dedicated to strategic and operational coordination in the fight against security and terrorism, MM. Castex and De Crew paid tribute by placing wreaths at the base of the monument in memory of the victims of the attack. They were joined by four Belgian ministers.
Jean Costex’s agenda “will be adjusted in the coming days so he can continue his activities for ten days when he is alone,” Matignon told AFP.
The French prime minister suffered from “minor symptoms” on Monday evening, according to his entourage, particularly of a “mild cough.”
On Monday afternoon he learned that one of his 11-year-old daughters had tested positive. “So he immediately did a PCR test and it turned out to be positive,” Matignon said.
Mattignon pointed out that Jean Costex did not see President Emmanuel Macron from the Cabinet on Wednesday morning.
The head of the French government, 56, was vaccinated in the spring, had a second injection of Astrogenogen from June 19, and qualified for the booster dose on December 19.
He had never tested positive before, but had already been involved in three cases.
Services of the Prime Minister, Mr. Costex pledged to “always strictly respect the prohibition gestures”, assessing that “many parents are contaminated by their children” and not eligible to vaccinate minors under 12 years of age.
Last week, government spokesman Gabriel Attal, Mr. Costex and Interior Minister Gerald Dormann continued to criticize the video, which showed him shaking hands without a mask, in defiance of the ban.
“We are all human beings,” he said. Atal pleaded, “There may be a moment of inattention, a break from time to time.”
On the evening the video was filmed, the participants were presented with a presentation by Health Pass.
Mr. Prior to the Costex, President Emmanuel Macron tested positive in December 2020. Many ministers, including Economy Minister Bruno Le Myre, Department of Culture and Roslyn Bachelorette, have been affected by the virus.
France has been experiencing a fifth wave of epidemics for several weeks. Counted on average seven days, the number of daily cases in a week has almost doubled: from 10,000 a week ago to more than 18,000 now.
