The coronavirus outbreak has been on a steady uprise lately and this caused a massive disruption in Countries around the world.
The political leaders have been responding to the outbreak of coronavirus, with schools closing and businesses asking employees to work from home and most Royal families are taking precautionary actions by postponing or cancelling engagements.
Queen Letizia met with the Minister of Equality, Irene Montero,
last week and it has since been confirmed that the Minister has COVID-19. This led to King Felipe and Queen Letizia both giving themselves to testing. Results show that the royals are clear of the virus.
A statement issued by the Spanish royal family read: “Based on the recent public activities of HM the Queen and the information transmitted by the Government, as a preventive measure indicated by the health authorities, their Majesties have carried out the corresponding COVID detection test this morning.”
Denmark royals have, in response to the viral outbreak, retrieved Crown Prince Federik and Crown Princess Mary from school in Switzerland. Queen Margrethe has returned home from her winter break in Norway and on Thursday and all upcoming engagements have been cancelled, including activities and events relating to her 80th birthday celebrations in April.
In a statement, the Danish royal court said: “In light of the worsening situation in Denmark in connection with the handling of the spread of COVID-19, the Crown Prince couple has decided that the family will leave home from Switzerland. The Crown Prince couple find it most natural to return home and stand with the Danes in a time that requires a lot of everyone and where there is a shared responsibility for looking after each other.”
Also adding that the young royals will continue their education at Tranegårdskolen in Gentofte, when public institutions reopen in the country.
In Norway, King Harald and Queen Sonja returned from a state visit to Jordan last week and have been quarantined and confined to their home,for a period of self-isolation.
So far it’s been observed that the couple are symptom-free, and the decision has been made based on the government’s new measures against the virus leading to the King leading the Council of Ministers meeting via video conferencing, while his son, Crown Prince Haakon attended the meeting in person at the palace.
King Harald issued a statement, saying: “Our country is in a serious situation that affects individuals and society as a whole. It is crucial that we all participate in the national quest to avoid exposing ourselves or others to infection. It is therefore important that we all follow recommendations and orders from the authorities. We must contribute what we can to prevent the spread of the virus, and I would especially like to thank health professionals all over the country who are doing their utmost to remedy the situation these days. We all hope that developments will soon turn around.”
As with all royal courts it’s been confirmed that the Norwegian royal family has cancelled or postponed all official events until Easter.
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima has also submitted to following the advice of the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment by cancelling most of their upcoming events. Assuredly, Queen Maxima has cancelled her appearances at Money Week, National Teachers’ Day for Trade Education, while Princess Beatrix will no longer open a museum exhibition. It added that the royal palace in Amsterdam will be closed to the public until 31 March.
The Swedish family also had to cancel Crown Princess Victoria’s public name day celebrations to prevent large numbers of the public gathering together. The Swedish court said the decision was taken based on the advice of the Public Health Authority and the crown princess marked the day in private instead.
This led to a statement release on Friday by King Carl XVI Gustaf, saying: “My family and I are following the development of COVID-19 in and out of Sweden very seriously. To you who are now working to prevent and limit the spread of the new coronavirus, and to provide care to the people who are ill, I would like to send a special greeting. Your efforts are important to our country and deeply appreciated by me, my family and everyone in Sweden.”
