Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19 more than one week ago and remains in a “serious but stable” condition, the government said Monday.
Bettel was diagnosed with insufficient oxygen saturation over the weekend and has been under constant medical observation since then, the Luxembourg government said in a press release. The medical staff treating him have determined that he must remain in the hospital for up to four more days to continue observation.
Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel is in a “serious but stable” condition in hospital with Covid, his government says. His office tells @Pierre_Sorlut and @afp that he’s “short of breath but not intubated.”
They expect him to stay under observation for two to four more days.— Dave Clark (@DaveClark_AFP) July 5, 2021
He will continue some of his functions and duties as prime minister remotely, but other duties will be taken up by Luxembourg’s finance minister Pierre Gremegna in his absence, according to the Luxembourg government’s press release.
Bettel also displayed other symptoms of COVID-19 including coughing, headaches and a fever when he was taken in for testing and medical analysis Sunday, according to The Associated Press. He has been in self-isolation since testing positive for the virus.
“We understand — and we certainly hope — that it’s not serious, and it’s for checks,” European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant said, according to the AP.
The prime minister’s office announced his positive test and initial mild symptoms in a statement June 27 after he attended a European Summit with other leaders, the German-language newspaper Luxemburger Wort first reported. Bettel received his first COVID-19 vaccine dose in early May and was scheduled to get his second AstraZeneca shot July 1, according to the AP.
But E.U. officials said they were confident all virus precaution measures had been strictly enforced and adhered to during the two-day summit, according to the AP. No other E.U. leader has tested positive since the summit. (RELATED: Europe Prepares to Welcome Americans Back Soon, Agrees To Ease Travel Restrictions)
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wished Bettel a “speedy recovery” in a tweet early Monday.