His wife, Brigitte, 67, will also self-isolate but has no symptoms and tested negative on Tuesday ahead of a visit to a Paris hospital, her office said.

Macron joins British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Donald Trump and Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro as world leaders to test positive.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex will also work in isolation due to his recent exposure to Macron.

France has been battling a major second wave of the disease, which exceeded the first in severity. The country’s official death toll stands at nearly 60,000.

French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said contact tracing efforts were in progress. He said Macron started to feel symptoms overnight and that he will keep working from the Elysee presidential palace.

“The virus has been circulating in France and worldwide for several months and the presidency and government are used to working in these circumstances,” Attal said.

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Macron appeared in person at an event on Monday alongside European Council President Charles Michel, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Secretary-General Angel Gurría and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

He also stood beside Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa at a press conference on Wednesday.

The Spanish government announced that Sánchez will place himself in quarantine until December 24. Michel and several other EU top officials also announced that they were placing themselves into self-isolation as a precaution.

Macron has rarely been seen in public without a mask in recent months, only removing it when making a speech or at a press conference when he is at safe distance from others. For several months, masks have been required in all indoor public places in France and everywhere outdoors in big cities.

With AP