Brussles, Oct 5 (IANS): European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday that she was self-isolating after being informed that she had attended a meeting last week with a person who has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Taking to Twitter, von der Leyen said: "I've been informed that I participated in a meeting last Tuesday (September 29) attended by a person who yesterday (Sunday) tested positive for Covid-19.

"In accordance with regulations in force, I'm therefore self-isolating until tomorrow morning. I've tested negative on Thursday (October 1) and (I) am tested again today."

Her announcement comes amid a spike in the number of cases across Europe.

In its latest update, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the continent has so far registered a total of 5,362,213 Covid-19 cases.

The five worst-affected countries are Russia (1,204,502), Spain (789,932), France (606,625), the UK (480,017) and Italy (322,751).

Europe's death toll currently stands at 226,515, according to the ECDC update.

The countries with the majority of the Covid-19 fatalities are the UK (42,317), Italy (35,968), France (32,198), Spain (32,086) and Russia (21,251).