Wednesday, 25 March 2020

Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus



Prince Charles tests positive for coronavirus
Heir to the throne self-isolating at home in Scotland and is said to be ‘up and about’

Caroline Davies
Wed 25 Mar 2020 11.59 GMTLast modified on Wed 25 Mar 2020 14.35 GMT

Prince Charles is reported to be in good spirits and continuing to work.

Charles, 71, is said to be “up and about” and in “good spirits” and has continued to work for the last few days.

Doctors believe the earliest he would have been contagious was on 13 March. He last saw the Queen on 12 March, following an investiture.

His last public engagement was also on 12 March. He has held private meetings since then.

Buckingham Palace said: “Her Majesty the Queen remains in good health. The Queen last saw the Prince of Wales briefly on the morning of 12 March and is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare.”

It is not known whether the Queen has been tested for coronavirus.

Charles was tested on Monday after qualifying for an NHS test due to age and medical condition criteria in Aberdeenshire. He received the results on Tuesday. It is thought he was tested at Birkhall, his home on the Queen’s Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire.

Medical advice is that it is unlikely that his condition will escalate into a more serious case. He is thought to have first displayed symptoms over the weekend.

Clarence House said: “The Prince of Wales has tested positive for coronavirus. He has been displaying mild symptoms but otherwise remains in good health and has been working from home throughout the last few days as usual.

 “The Duchess of Cornwall has also been tested but does not have the virus. In accordance with government and medical advice, the prince and the duchess are now self-isolating at home in Scotland. The tests were carried out by the NHS in Aberdeenshire where they met the criteria required for testing.

“It is not possible to ascertain from whom the prince caught the virus owing to the high number of engagements he carried out in his public role during recent weeks.”

Camilla is self-isolating separately from Charles at Birkhall and will carry on doing so for 14 days.

No details have been made public about exactly what symptoms Charles has displayed, except that they are mild.

He and the duchess travelled to Birkhall on SundayThey have a small team of domestic staff who will remain there, sources have said.

The couple are said not to be interacting with that small team of staff in any way.

Charles is understood to have spoken to the Duke of Cambridge, who is in Norfolk, and the Duke of Sussex, who is on Vancouver Island.

Since his last public engagements on 12 March, Charles has held a small number of private meetings at Highgrove, his home in Gloucestershire, on Duchy of Cornwall business. The people he interacted with during those meetings have been informed of Charles’s diagnosis. It is not known whether they have been tested.

All senior members of the royal family were together on 9 March at a Commonwealth Day service.

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