French Minister of Health tests positive for COVID-19

PARIS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- French Minister of Health Olivier Veran announced on Thursday he had tested positive for COVID-19.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran leaves the Elysee presidential palace in Paris after the weekly cabinet meeting on January 12, 2022.

The health minister had taken both a self-test and an antigen test, after presenting mild symptoms. On Wednesday, he was alerted by the French phone application TousAntiCovid (Everyone Against Covid) that he had had contact with a positive case.

On his social media account, Veran said that he would go into self-isolation and continue working remotely.

Also on Thursday, the French Ministry of Health announced that at least 600,000 people will lose their health passes on Jan. 15 as they have not received their booster shot.

By Wednesday, 15.2 million people had received the booster shot, out of 15.9 million people who are eligible, the Ministry of Health said.

Meanwhile, some 77,500 teachers joined a strike against the school health protocol.

According to the Ministry of Education, a total of 136 protests were organized nationwide, with 8,200 people marching in Paris alone.

France reported on Thursday 305,322 new COVID-19 cases detected in the past 24 hours.