Giovanni Patri, who founded “Rescue Independents & Startups” to lobby for better support for pandemic-hit businesses, was taken to hospital by ambulance after collapsing on Monday.

Posting on Facebook from his hospital bed at the Hôpitaux Robert Schuman on Tuesday, Patri wrote that he had been tested for covid-19 and was not infected.

“So it's other worries that require me to be hospitalized and in care. Sorry if I can't answer all of you but I'm reading your messages and it's the best cure,” he posted next to a photo of him giving the thumbs up from a hospital bed.

The outspoken entrepreneur is credited with leading the charge for the self-employed and small business owners in securing state finance to save businesses impacted by the health crisis, a role which propelled him into the public eye.

Even before his campaigning, he was listed among the 10 business leaders to watch out for in 2020 by Mirror Review for his work as founder and CEO of Phoenici, a financial services company.