Pope has tested negative for the coronavirus, reports Italian newspaper

Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. File picture: Andrew Medichini/AP

Pope Francis delivers his blessing during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. File picture: Andrew Medichini/AP

Published Mar 3, 2020

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Rome - Pope Francis has been tested for the novel coronavirus

and come up with a negative result, Italian newspaper Il Messaggero

reported on Tuesday.

The 83-year-old pontiff has cancelled some of his engagements since

Thursday, a day after appearing to be suffering from a cold during an

Ash Wednesday service.

Francis had a "cough, a bit of a temperature, sore throat, shivers.

His doctors stepped in immediately for the appropriate checks," Il

Messaggero reported.

"Of course, he was also subjected to a swab test to see if it was

coronavirus, but luckily the outcome was negative," the newspaper

added.

The Vatican did not comment on the report.

On Sunday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told dpa that "there is no

evidence suggesting that the pope is suffering from anything other

than [a] cold."

Il Messaggero also wrote that access to former Pope Benedict XVI, who

is 92 and lives within the Vatican grounds, has been limited to

prevent contagion risks.

The Vatican announced separately the postponement of a global summit

on education that Pope Francis was scheduled to host during May

10-17, due to the coronavirus situation.

The meeting, known as the Global Compact on Education and due to

bring together religious leaders, charities and representatives of

international organizations, was moved to October 11-18.

The Vatican is geographically located within Italy, the country

facing the worst coronavirus crisis in Europe, with more than 2,000

infected and 52 dead as of Monday.

On Monday, two new contagion cases were reported in Rome, the first

linked to the ongoing virus outbreak, concerning a policeman and a

fireman.

Both cases were linked to northern Italy, where the outbreak started.

The policeman is thought to have caught the virus while attending a

Jonas Brothers concert near Milan on February 14, Lazio regional

health authorities said.

The policeman's wife, two children and sister in law have also tested

positive, and 15 people who came into contact with him in a Rome

hospital are undergoing tests.

The new coronavirus jumped from an unknown animal species to the

human population in China's city of Wuhan at some point in December,

and has since spread globally.

dpa

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