Pope tested negative for coronavirus, Italy confirmed

On Tuesday, the Italian newspaper II Messaggero said that Pope Francis, who aborted a Lent retreat for the first time during his papacy because he was suffering from a cold, tested negative for the new coronavirus.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said Francis had no immediate comment on the announcement.

The 83-year-old leader of Roman Catholic, who had undergone one lung removed because of a sickness decades ago, also cancelled most audiences this past week.
He was to have participated in a week-long retreat with frontline Vatican officials, which began on Sunday night at a Church residence south of Rome.

But in a sudden announcement hours before, Francis said he would follow it from his residence in a guest house in the Vatican.

He has been taken ill at a time when Italy is coping with a surging outbreak of a potentially deadly virus: coronavirus.

Up to Monday, the death toll in Italy crossed 52 from 34 the day earlier. The total number of reported cases in Europe’s worst-affected country jumped over 2,000.