Pope Francis tests negative for coronavirus — media

MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. Pope Francis has tested negative for coronavirus, Reuters news agency informed on Tuesday.

Representatives of the Holy See have not released an official statement regarding the situation so far.

Earlier, the 83-year old Pope Francis cancelled several events due to him feeling "slightly unwell," the Vatican informed. These reports caused media speculation in the light of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy. Last week, the MCM News portal claimed that several people from the Pope’s inner circle might have contracted coronavirus, which led to quarantine measures being introduced in the Vatican. The Vatican press service dismissed these reports as false.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. According to Chinese authorities, over 80,000 people have been infected with the virus in the country. The death toll has surpassed 2,900, while about 47,200 patients have recovered. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global health emergency and named the virus COVID-19. Cases of coronavirus have been reported in over 70 countries, including Russia. The largest outbreaks of COVID-19 outside of China have been detected in South Korea and Italy.

Source: TASS