Angela Merkel's Initial Coronavirus Test Result Comes Back Negative
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, underwent her first coronavirus test after her doctor tested positive for the virus. The result of her initial test came back negative.
Germany’s government spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, has confirmed the negative test result. He informed the German press agency DPA that further tests will be conducted.
“The test result of today’s test is negative. Further tests will be carried out in the next few days.”
A single negative test result does not conclusively rule out the presence of the virus, as the specimen might have been collected in the early stages of infection.
Merkel had received a vaccine shot against pneumococcus, a pneumonia-causing bacteria, from the doctor on Friday afternoon. After learning about the doctor’s positive test result, she went into quarantine on Sunday.
Prior to entering self-isolation, Merkel announced during a televised news briefing that Germany would impose a ban on public meetings of more than two people, along with several other stringent measures.
As of Monday, Germany had reported 22,672 confirmed cases and 86 deaths, according to the country’s Robert Koch Institute.
