EU's Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier Tests Positive for Coronavirus

This comes amid the continuing Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, with Italy, France and Spain being the worst-affected countries in the region.

EU's Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier took to Twitter to announce that he was diagnosed with having a new coronavirus infection.  

I would like to inform you that I have tested positive for #COVID19. I am doing well and in good spirits. I am following all the necessary instructions, as is my team.

For all those affected already, and for all those currently in isolation, we will get through this together.

— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) March 19, 2020

In the meantime, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is increasing across the globe, with Europe already outnumbering Asia in total deaths.

A woman wearing a protective face mask reads a newspaper as she walks in a street on the deserted Ile Saint Louis in Paris as lockdown is imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, March 18, 2020.

© REUTERS / CHRISTIAN HARTMANN

Earlier on Thursday, French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said that a 15-day lockdown ordered by President Macron could be extended if necessary. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said that his country's shutdown measures will be extended beyond the previously announced deadline of 25 March. More and more European governments are following in Italy's and France's footsteps and announcing strict travel restrictions in cities and small communities.