French Prime Minister Jean Castex will undergo a COVID-19 test as a precaution after having been in contact with a person who had tested positive for the coronavirus, Castex's office said on Tuesday.
Castex spent time in the car of Tour de France Director Christian Prudhomme during Saturday's stage of the cycle race. "They were both wearing masks and respecting social distancing," said Castex's office.
Prudhomme tested positive for COVID-19 and will into isolation for seven days, the organizers of Tour de France said earlier on Tuesday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said that Wednesday's weekly cabinet meeting might be delayed or held via video conference "as far as the prime minister and any other contact cases are concerned."
Castex would be subject to the same rules as anyone else and would have to go into isolation if he tested positive, said Macron during a visit to a youth employment center in Auvergne in central France.
"We are doing the same for ourselves as we are asking all our fellow citizens to do," Macron said, urging the French to stay vigilant against the virus especially in private life.
"We must not relax in moments of private life because it is often in private parties, in family moments, that contaminations occur," Macron said.
France is facing a resurgence of COVID-19 in recent days. On Monday, the country registered 4,203 news cases of coronavirus in a 24-hour span, a figure clearly down from the previous days but still alarming. In the previous three days, daily new cases numbered between 7,000 and 9,000.
