Queen Elizabeth II talks to PM despite having COVID-19

By: 3 years ago

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II REUTERS FILE PHOTO

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II on Wednesday held her weekly telephone audience with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson despite having “mild” Covid symptoms, Buckingham Palace said.

“Her Majesty did speak to the prime minister this evening,” a spokesman said, after the 95-year-old monarch on Tuesday cancelled her planned virtual engagements because of Covid.

The queen and the prime minister have held weekly audiences by telephone for much of the pandemic and they are expected to have discussed the escalating crisis with Russia on Ukraine’s border.

The head of state tested positive for the virus on Sunday, sparking renewed concerns about her health after she spent a night in hospital in October last year.

She was forced to rest on medical grounds and cancelled a series of planned engagements, including hosting world leaders at the UN climate change summit in November.

Her appearances since then have been rare, although she returned to public duties before the start of her record-breaking 70th year as monarch on February 6.

News of her illness came the day before Johnson announced all pandemic legal curbs in England would end on Thursday.

On Monday he said compulsory self-isolation for positive cases would stop on Thursday, urging a shift from government intervention to personal responsibility.