German Economy Minister Says Quarantined After EU Trade Ministers Meeting In Berlin

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) German Economy and Energy Minister Peter Altmaier said that he had gone on quarantine after one of the participants of the recent trade ministers meeting in Berlin had tested positive for COVID-19.

Altmaier became thus the second German minister, who had self-isolated within the past 24 hours. On Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas quarantined himself after a member of his security team had tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Today in the afternoon, I have gained information that a person accompanying one of the EU ministers at the meeting of trade ministers in Berlin had tested positive for the coronavirus.

I went to a home quarantine as a precaution. On Friday, I tested negative [for COVID-19], I feel very good," Altmaier wrote on his Twitter page on late Wednesday.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 31.7 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 973,000 fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Germany has registered about 280,000 COVID-19 coronavirus cases so far, with more than 9,000 fatalities.