Pope Francis heads to hospital for treatment of pulmonary infection, Vatican says

The Vatican said Pope Francis will be hospitalized for several days to treat a lung infection after experiencing shortness of breath in recent days.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis, 86, was not suffering from COVID-19 but needed several days of therapy.

They said on Wednesday that Francis had been having breathing problems recently and had gone to Rome’s Gemelli hospital for tests.

“The test shows a respiratory infection (a COVID-19 infection is excluded) that requires several days of medical therapy,” Bruni said.