French Prime Minister Jean Castex, clapping in tie, with Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme, right | Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP via Getty Images
Jean Castex was in contact with an infected person at the Tour de France.
PARIS — French Prime Minister Jean Castex will be tested for coronavirus and self-isolate, after coming into contact with an infected person.
“As a contact case of a person who tested positive for COVID-19, I will follow the protocol developed by the Government and the health authorities. It applies to everyone. I will exercise the fullness of my duties while scrupulously respecting the health recommendations,” Castex tweeted.
Castex spent Saturday at the Tour de France in the Pyrénées, in a car with race director Christian Prudhomme. Prudhomme tested positive for the virus on Tuesday morning. Junior Minister for Rural Life Joël Giraud, who was also in the car, said he canceled all his meetings because of fear of contagion.
During the wave of testing at the Tour de France, four team staff members but no riders were confirmed as having tested positive for the coronavirus, in results that were released Tuesday morning.
“We are careful, but life takes over, the Tour takes place, the party continues,” Castex told France Télévision on Saturday, before congratulating the organizers of the Tour and public services for the implementation of security measures linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
