BERLIN: Angela Merkel is “doing well” in self-imposed quarantine and awaiting the results of her coronavirus test, her spokesman said on Monday, as the veteran chancellor joined millions of Germans in working from home.

Merkel decided to self-isolate as a precaution after learning on Sunday that a doctor who vaccinated her last Friday was infected with the novel coronavirus.

“The chancellor is doing well,” her spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters.

Dialling in from her Berlin flat, Merkel, 65, led a cabinet meeting that decided on a major rescue package for virus-stricken companies and employees in Europe’s top economy.

“She was tested today and now we are waiting for the results, and we’ll see what comes out of that,” Seibert said, adding that any next steps would be guided by advice from doctors and Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control agency.

Seibert thanked everyone on Merkel’s behalf for “the many, many well wishes and messages for the chancellor to stay healthy”. The spokesman declined to say whether Merkel’s chemistry professor husband Joachim Sauer was quarantining with her, saying he would not share information about family members.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2020