Coronavirus: EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier tests positive
- The revelation came after the EU and Britain were forced to cancel this week’s post-Brexit trade talks because of the outbreak
- ‘My message to all those who are affected or currently isolated: we will get through this together,’ Barnier said
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has the novel coronavirus that is sweeping the globe, he announced on Thursday.
“I tested positive yesterday for Covid-19. I’m as well as I can be, strictly confined to my home,” the 69-year-old Frenchman said in a video posted on his Twitter account.
“I’m fine, morale is good,” the former French foreign minister added, speaking from France, one of the countries hardest hit by the virus.
“I naturally am following all instructions, as does my team. My message to all those who are affected or currently isolated: we will get through this together!”
Speaking in front of a well-stocked bookshelf and dressed in a sweater, Barnier expressed “solidarity” with “the many families affected by this disease” and “respect for all carers, who are doing a great job”.
Messages of support poured in from across Europe as well as Britain, where former UK Brexit minister Steve Barclay called for his speedy recovery.