Newsdeck

Queen's covid test

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II Tests Positive for Mild Covid

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II has tested positive for Covid-19. (Photo: Tolga Akmen - WPA Pool / Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II, the U.K.’s 95-year-old monarch, has tested positive for Covid-19 and has mild symptoms, her office at Buckingham Palace said.

The queen is experiencing “cold-like” effects but expects to continue “light duties” at Windsor Castle over the coming week, the palace said in a statement. She has received all her vaccinations.

“She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines,” according to the statement.

The monarch attended in-person audiences at the castle last week, her first major public engagement for more than three months, but complained to one attendee of suffering from stiffness and was photographed holding a walking stick.

Concerns about the Queen contracting Covid heightened this month after Prince Charles, her son and heir, tested positive after having had contact with the monarch. The revelation comes weeks after the U.K.’s longest-serving monarch completed 70 years on the throne. The country is due to hold nationwide celebrations in June to mark the Platinum Jubilee.

Queen Elizabeth has been mostly resting since mid-October after canceling a run of engagements and spending a night in hospital undergoing preliminary tests.

 

The announcement also came the day before U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to lift remaining Covid restrictions for England. Johnson is set to announce to Parliament Monday that people testing positive for the coronavirus will no longer have to self-isolate, and the government will also wind down its free testing program.

Read More: Johnson Will Scrap U.K. Covid Measures in New Plan This Week 

The U.K. has had more than 161,000 Covid deaths, the second-highest fatality count in Europe after Russia. Mired by domestic scandals and the threat of war in Ukraine, Johnson is keen to present some good news to a public weary of restrictions.

“We have reached a stage where we think you can shift the balance away from state mandation, away from banning certain courses of action, and compelling certain courses of action, in favor of encouraging personal responsibility,” Johnson said in an interview on the BBC’s Sunday Morning program.

He added that the U.K. cannot continue to spend 2 billion pounds ($2.72 billion) a month on testing for the virus.

(Updates with details on government plans)

–With assistance from Andrew Davis.

Gallery

Comments - Please in order to comment.

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options