Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender are considered to be extremely cautious when it comes to appointments at home and abroad with a view to Corona. Nevertheless, both are now infected.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his wife Elke Büdenbender have been infected with the corona virus. A quick test and a PCR test were positive on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said. “The symptoms are mild.”
Steinmeier and his wife immediately went into domestic isolation. All close contacts have been informed, the statement said. Steinmeier (66) and Büdenbender (60) have been vaccinated three times against the virus. During the pandemic, they had significantly reduced their appointments in Germany and trips abroad. Instead, Steinmeier increasingly relied on online talks and events.
However, his declared intention is to seek more direct contact with citizens again. To this end, he launched his new format “local time Germany” last weekend and moved his official residence to Altenburg in Thuringia from Friday to Sunday afternoon. He met, among other things, at breakfast rounds with committed citizens and local politicians and sought to talk to people. Such direct contacts inevitably increase the risk of infection even when wearing masks and observing distance rules.
Büdenbender is a risk patient
It is questionable whether Steinmeier will be able to start the first trip abroad of his second term next Tuesday. He actually wants to fly to Poland with his wife and take part in a state funeral in Kraków in honor of the composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who died in 2020. A meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and a visit to an arrival center for Ukrainian refugees in Kraków are also planned.
The great caution of the head of state and the first lady in the pandemic is also due to the fact that Elke Büdenbender in particular is a risk patient. She lives with only one kidney, which her husband donated to her in 2010.
In the omicron wave, more and more politicians are becoming infected with the corona virus. The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas (SPD) – according to the protocol, number 2 in Germany – and her deputies Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) and Aydan Özoguz (SPD) are also currently ill. NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is still in isolation in a hotel in Jerusalem after a positive PCR test on a trip to Israel.
Foreign heads of state fare no better. Norway’s King Harald V. (85) also tested positive for the corona virus on Tuesday, as the royal family announced in a brief statement. In Great Britain, Queen Elizabeth II (95) fell ill in February.
Source: Stern
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