(London) Queen Elizabeth II, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, has canceled scheduled video conference engagements on Tuesday as she continues to suffer from “mild cold-like symptoms”, fueling concern over the 95-year-old sovereign’s health. years.
Posted at 6:27
“Her Majesty still exhibiting mild cold-like symptoms, she has decided that she will not be carrying out scheduled online engagements today, but will continue with light duties,” Buckingham Palace announced.
Elizabeth II, who passed the milestone of 70 years of reign on February 6, was declared positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. She had met her son Prince Charles on February 8, who tested positive two days later.
Whether or not the monarch will attend her scheduled engagements in the coming days, including a weekly phone call with Prime Minister Boris Johnson scheduled for Wednesday, will be determined in due course, the palace said.
Since she spent a night in the hospital in October, the appearances of the sovereign had become rare. But the palace had recently announced a resumption of its public activities, including a ceremony on March 29 at Westminster Abbey in memory of Prince Philip, her husband who died last year.
She must thus participate on March 2 in a large diplomatic reception in Windsor, the castle of which she has made her main place of residence since the start of the pandemic, and in a Commonwealth ceremony on March 14.
Four days of festivities are planned in June to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years of reign.
Lifting of restrictions
On Sunday, the palace clarified that the queen intended to “continue light duties in Windsor during the week”.
On Monday, she notably sent a message of condolence to the Brazilian president after deadly floods and landslides in Brazil.
According to British media, the Queen, who will turn 96 in April, is triple vaccinated, as are her son and his wife, Camilla, who also tested positive.
Since her interview with her son, the queen had appeared during an in-person meeting with her military attachés at Windsor Castle, about forty kilometers from London.
Video of the encounter showed her standing, smiling, wearing a patterned dress with a cane in her hand. “As you can see, I can’t move,” she said, however, pointing to her left foot or leg.
This appearance of the queen had given a signal likely to calm concerns about her state of health, particularly scrutinized since her night in the hospital in the fall for “preliminary” examinations, the nature of which has never since been specified.
The day after the announcement of the sovereign’s positive test, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday the end of compulsory isolation as of Thursday for positive coronavirus cases, a very controversial measure in his strategy for living with COVID- 19 as with the “flu” in a country where more than 160,000 people have died from the virus.