Federal Secretary of State tests positive for coronavirus
The Federal Secretary of State responsible for the digital agenda Mathieu Michel (Francophone liberal) has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The news that Mr Michel, who is the brother of the President of the European Council Charles Michel, had tested positive for the virus was released by the Federal Government in a press statement on Friday morning.
Mr Michel had what is described as a “high risk contacted” with someone that has since tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
During the past week the Francophone liberal politician from Walloon Brabant has not had any close contact with other member of Belgium’s new Federal Government. Friday morning’s press statement says that “The members of the government are remaining extremely vigilant and are upholding the general preventative safety measures”.
Currently, the members of both the Brussels and Walloon regional governments are quarantining after the Walloon Minister Valérie De Bue (Francophone liberal) and the Brussels Minister Sven Gatz (Flemish liberal) tested positive for coronavirus. The First Minister in the Brussels regional government Rudi Vervoort (Francophone socialist) has also tested positive for COVID-19.