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.