ECB chief Christine Lagarde tests positive for Covid

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said she tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, a week before she is scheduled to chair a policy meeting as the eurozone battles sky-high inflation.

"This morning I tested positive for COVID-19. I am vaccinated and boosted, and my symptoms are thankfully reasonably mild," Lagarde,66, wrote on Twitter.

"I will work from home in Frankfurt until I am fully recovered. There is no impact on the ECB's operations."

The ECB governing council will meet next week to decide their response to soaring inflation and a worsening economic outlook in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

The closely-watched Thursday press conference that follows the meeting, where Lagarde explains the ECB's thinking, has been held online since the start of the pandemic.

Lagarde, a former French finance minister and one-time head of the International Monetary Fund, joined the ECB in late 2019.

She is the first woman at the helm of the eurozone's central bank.

Lagarde's positive test comes as Germany continues to grapple with high coronavirus infection numbers, but hospitals are not overwhelmed by Covid patients.

The German government has pressed ahead with relaxing restrictions in recent weeks, including dropping the requirement to wear masks in supermarkets and schools.

The country registered 201,729 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to the Robert Koch health institute, and 328 deaths.