French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for COVID-19, the presidential Elysee Palace announced on Thursday.
The brief statement did not mention what symptoms Macron experienced, but said he would isolate himself for seven days.
Macron becomes the latest edition to a growing list of world leaders and politicians who has now contracted the coronavirus.
The coronavirus pandemic has spread to at least 188 countries and territories, with the worldwide death toll from the virus passing a grim milestone of more than 1.6 million, with more than 74.6 million cases recorded globally.
Here is a list of world leaders who have tested positive:
Donald and Melania Trump: The US president said on Twitter on October 2 that and he and the first lady contracted the virus and were in quarantine.
For months, Trump was accused of downplaying the virus that has killed more than 300,000 Americans.
At 74, the US president was the oldest head of state to become infected with the virus to date, and his age put him at higher risk of serious complications from COVID-19. Trump was hospitalised for three days, and after staging a dramatic return to the White House, he continued to minimise the severity of the virus.
Boris Johnson: The 55-year-old prime minister of the United Kingdom said on March 27 that he tested positive for coronavirus and was self-isolating.
He was hospitalised on April 5 in what his office described as a “precautionary step”. Johnson was moved to the intensive care unit on April 6 after his symptoms worsened. He later expressed his gratitude to National Health Service staff for saving his life when his condition could have “gone either way”.
Jair Bolsonaro: The Brazilian president announced his illness in July and used it to publicly extol hydroxychloroquine, the unproven malaria drug that he had been promoting as a treatment for COVID-19 and was taking himself.
For months he had flirted with the virus, calling it a “little flu”, as he flouted social distancing at lively demonstrations and encouraged crowds during outings from the presidential residence, often without a mask.
Riek Machar: South Sudan’s vice president and his wife Angelina Teny, who serves as defence minister, tested positive for the coronavirus on May 18.
Alexander Lukashenko: The president of Belarus, who dismissed concerns about the virus as “psychosis” and recommended drinking vodka to stay healthy, said in July he had contracted it himself but was asymptomatic.
Belarus is one of the few countries that took no comprehensive measures against the virus.
Juan Orlando Hernandez: The Honduras president announced in June that he had tested positive, along with two other people who worked closely with him.
Hernandez said he had started what he called the “MAIZ treatment,” an experimental and unproven combination of microdacyn, azithromycin, ivermectin and zinc. He was briefly hospitalised and released.
He has added his voice to growing pleas for equitable access to any COVID-19 vaccine, asking the recent UN gathering of world leaders, “Are people to be left to die?”
Prince Charles: The prince of Wales and heir to the British throne tested positive for the coronavirus on March 25.
Prince Albert: Monaco’s Prince Albert II tested positive for the novel coronavirus in March.
Silvio Berlusconi: Italy’s former prime minister tested positive for COVID-19 on September 2 along with two of his children.
Ali Larijani: Iran’s parliament said on April 2 its speaker tested positive for the coronavirus.
Mikhail Mishustin: Russia’s prime minister on April 30 said in a video meeting with President Vladimir Putin that he tested positive for coronavirus and will self-isolate to protect other cabinet members.
Nikol Pashinyan: The Armenian prime minister revealed on June 1 that he and his family has tested positive for the virus.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau: On March 12, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 following a trip to the UK.
Ambrose Dlamini: The prime minister of eSwatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, died in a South African hospital on December 14, the only sitting leader to have passed from COVID-19.
