EU Chief Ursula von der Leyen to self-isolate after meeting person infected with coronavirus

European Union president Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that she will be self-isolating for a day after she learnt that a person she met had been infected with coronavirus, news agency AFP reported.

Von der Leyen said that she had tested negative for the virus twice recently, on Thursday and Monday, but will be self isolating “as foreseen by the regulations in force.”

The former defence minister of Germany said that she had come in contact with the person on Tuesday last week, AFP reported. The individual tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday.

The head of the EU executive did not mention this in her announcement, but on that day she was visiting Lisbon for talks with senior Portuguese officials, according to AFP.

When she is in Brussels, von der Leyen generally stays in a small flat on the 13th floor of the European Commission’s Berlaymont headquarters, adjacent to her office.

Mariya Gabriel, the EU commissioner for research and innovation, also said on Monday that a member of her team had tested positive to the virus and that she and her cabinet were self-isolating.

“I feel well and have no symptoms. Have a good week, stay safe!” Gabriel tweeted.

They are not the first senior EU official to be quarantined in recent weeks.

Last month the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, was forced to postpone a European leaders’ summit for a week after a security guard in his team tested positive.

The summit went ahead on Thursday and Friday last week, and was attended by Von der Leyen.