Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom, has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the second time he has tested positive, after a bout with the virus in 2020.
“This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating,” tweeted the official handle of the Prince of Wales and his wife The Duchess of Cornwall. “HRH [His Royal Highness] is deeply disappointed not to be able to attend today’s events in Winchester and will look to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.”
This morning The Prince of Wales has tested positive for COVID-19 and is now self-isolating.
HRH is deeply disappointed not to be able to attend today’s events in Winchester and will look to reschedule his visit as soon as possible.
— The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall (@ClarenceHouse) February 10, 2022
The Prince, the 73-year-old heir apparent to the throne, was due to unveil a statue in Winchester.
Queen Elizabeth, who met Prince Charles two days ago, is not symptomatic, a royal source told the BBC. However, Buckingham Palace is not revealing whether the Queen has tested positive or negative.
The Prince and the Duchess attended a British Asian Trust reception at the British Museum on Wednesday, where Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, Home Secretary Priti Patel and music producer Naughty Boy were also present. Under current U.K. rules, those who have been in touch with COVID-positive cases must take lateral flow tests for seven days and are required to self-isolate if they test positive.
Prince Charles had recovered after seven days in self-isolation in 2020. “I was lucky in my case… but I’ve had it, and I can so understand what other people have gone through,” the Prince of Wales had told Sky News then. “I feel particularly for those who have lost their loved ones and have been unable to be with them at the time. That, to me, is the most ghastly thing.”
The Prince contracting the virus again comes at a time when U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson — who is facing a leadership crisis and a police investigation because of allegations that he was present at a number of parties at his residence 10, Downing Street at times when the U.K. was in strict COVID lockdown — is looking to remove all remaining restrictions. The U.K. parliament goes into a recess next week and Johnson said yesterday that one of the government’s actions would be to lift restrictions the week after.
Addressing the parliament on Wednesday, Johnson said: “It is my intention to return on the first day after the half-term recess to present our strategy for living with COVID. Provided the current encouraging trends in the data continue, it is my expectation that we will be able to end the last domestic restrictions — including the legal requirement to self-isolate if you test positive — a full month early.”
The latest data provided by the U.K. government shows that 68,214 people are testing positive daily, with 276 daily deaths. 485,074 people tested positive in the last seven days, a drop of 22.8% and 1,526 people died during that period, a reduction of 16.3%.