Coronavirus Germany: Angela Merkel rival tests positive for Covid-19

Friedrich Merz says he will begin isolation after testing positive

Friedrich Merz of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) addresses a news conference in Berlin, Germany Reuters

A possible successor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel has fallen ill with the coronavirus known as Covid-19 and is now under quarantine

Friedrich Merz, one of the front-runners to lead Ms Merkel’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union, tested positive for the virus on Sunday, a spokesman said.

"A Corona test I performed on Sunday is positive. I will be under quarantine at home by the end of next week," Mr Merz told Der Speigel.

"Fortunately, I have only mild to moderate symptoms. All appointments have been cancelled. I will strictly follow the instructions of the health department."

Plans for a smooth handover of power within the CDU were thrown into disarray in February, with the resignation of Mrs Merkel’s preferred successor, former minister of defence Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

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A train stands at a near-empty platform of a subway station at Alexanderplatz square in Berlin, as tourist activities came to a halt. AFP

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Mrs Merkel, 65, has led Europe's biggest economy for almost 15 years, and has announced she will not seek a fifth term.

Mr Merz returned from the political wilderness to pursue the leadership of the CDU after he was beaten in the party’s 2002 leadership contest when he was the leading rival to Mrs Merkel. He left German Parliament in 2009.

Mr Merz has now emerged as one of three promising candidates for the to lead the CDU.

The former union leader’s announcement has underlined the challenge posed to Germany by the coronavirus, where 17 people have died from 7,272 recorded cases.

On Tuesday, Mrs Merkel announced Germany would undertake extraordinary measures as it battled the spread of the virus.

Under the measures, parks, bars, museums cinemas and theatres will be closed.

Travel for tourism, abroad and domestically, has also been prohibited.

"These are measures that have never been seen before in our country,” Mrs Merkel said.

“But they are necessary to reduce the number of illnesses and serious diseases, and not to overburden our health system."

On Tuesday, Germany essentially locked down its borders with Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg and Denmark.

It, like other nations in Europe, has urged its citizens to practise social distancing wherever possible.

Thousands of schools have been closed and many people have begun working from home where possible.

"Reduce your social life as much as possible," a representative of the Germany's disease control agency, the Robert Koch Institute, said on Monday.

On Tuesday, German authorities started working to bring home of tourists stranded across the globe on winter holidays.

Thousands of Germans remain abroad on package holidays in destinations like Morocco, the Dominican Republic, the Philippines, the Maldives and Egypt.

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Tuesday that the government was spending up to €50 million (Dh202.3m) to bring Germans home over coming days, in co-operation with airlines including Lufthansa.

Mr Maas did not give a precise number of stranded Germans but said there was about 4,000 or 5,000 in Morocco.