Scholz tests positive for Covid-19

Berlin, Sep 26 (EFE).- German chancellor Olaf Scholz has tested positive for Covid-19 and is in isolation, the government’s spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said Monday.

Scholz tested positive on Monday morning during a routine test and is experiencing mild symptoms but is doing well, Hebestreit added.

All public events the German leader had planned this week have been canceled and he will hold meetings online.

Scholz returned to Berlin Sunday after a three-day tour of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar aimed at finding alternatives to Russian energy supplies and solutions to the energy crisis driven by the war in Ukraine.

Last week, he attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York in which nearly 150 leaders participated, including Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez who tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday.

The German government is in the midst of a debate on a controversial energy plan, expected to be implemented on October 1, that would raise consumer gas prices by 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The plan aims to cushion the losses in Germany’s energy sector after Russia drastically reduced its gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. EFE

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