Nice attack: Tunisian knife attacker tests positive for coronavirus

A few days after a Tunisian man killed three people and injured several more in a knife attack in the French city Nice, the attacker has now tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The Tunisian man has been in police custody since the day of the attack. He was shot several times by the police in an encounter and was rushed to the hospital. He has been in doctors' observation since that day.

A source has claimed the virus may delay his questioning. "He hasn't yet been questioned, his prognosis remains uncertain," the source told AFP.

The 21-year-old Brahim Issaoui had arrived in France a month ago after crossing the Mediterranean to the Italian island of Lampedusa.

As of now, four more people have been taken into custody and are being questioned, including a 29-year-old man who has been suspected of being in contact with the attacker. They have been taken into custody in the Val-d'Oise department just north of Paris, which has several suburbs with large immigrant communities.

Italian media has reported that the attacker was earlier placed in quarantine with almost 400 migrants on a ferry before he disembarked at Bari in Southern Italy on october 09. The reports have not been confirmed yet.

Initial investigations have concluded that Issaoui had arrived in Nice on October 27, just two days before the church attack. He was also reportedly carrying a copy of the Koran, three knives and two mobile phones.