London — Britain's Prince Charles examined optimistic for COVID-19 on Thursday and is self-isolating, based on an announcement posted on his official Twitter account. Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son and inheritor to her throne canceled his public occasions for the day however would "look to reschedule" engagements as quickly as attainable, the assertion stated.
COVID-19 an infection charges within the U.Okay. stay excessive, with official statistics displaying 68,214 new circumstances on Wednesday. Nevertheless, British well being authorities not advocate confirmatory PCR checks after a optimistic fast check end result, so some scientists say the official numbers are seemingly an underestimate.
Charles, 73, caught COVID as soon as earlier than, at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. He solely had delicate signs that point. The royal household offered no details about his medical situation on Thursday past the optimistic check end result.
The U.Okay. authorities lately lifted most of its COVID-19 restrictions, together with the requirement to put on masks indoors. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced that he would seemingly elevate the one remaining restriction — for anybody who checks optimistic to self-isolate for no less than 5 days — earlier than the deliberate date in late March.
He indicated that England may very well be fully freed from all COVID-restrictions by the top of February, assuming there isn't any change within the trajectory of case charges and hospitalizations.
Some critics and scientists stated the transfer risked signaling to the general public that the pandemic was over when circumstances are nonetheless surging throughout the nation.
"Clearly in the identical manner [as for] somebody with flu, we would not advocate they go to work," Johnson stated. "We might by no means advocate anybody goes to work once they have an infectious illness."