French PM to be tested after Covid contact with Tour boss

France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex will have a Covid-19 test after spending part of the weekend alongside the boss of the Tour de France cycling race who has tested positive for the virus, his office said Tuesday.

Castex was in the car of Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme as they followed the eighth stage of the race on Saturday.

Prudhomme, who is asymptomatic, must now leave the race for a week to go into quarantine.

“The prime minister will again undergo a test,” Castex’s office said, emphasising that both men had worn masks and respected rules on social distancing.

President Emmanuel Macron indicated that the weekly cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday could be delayed or held via video conference as a result.

“We practice what we demand of our citizens to do” if they come into contact with someone infected with Covid-19, Macron said.

Concern has been growing over the risk of a second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic in France, with the number of new cases surging even though the death rate remains relatively low compared to the highs in the spring.

“We must not let down our guard in moments of private life because it is often in private parties, in family moments, that the infections happen,” Macron said.

He said that new measures to help fight the virus would be examined at a meeting on Friday.