Queen Elizabeth II has revealed that she has felt “very tired and exhausted” after her infection with COVID-19 on February 20th. Buckingham Palace described her condition as “mild cold symptoms“, the queen was determined to carry out the tasks that she could.
After overcoming the virus, this Wednesday the monarch spoke for the first time about the experience with the disease during a virtual visit to the Royal London Hospital, due to the official inauguration of the Queen Elizabeth Unit of the medical institution.
“I’m glad you guys are improving… It makes one very tired and drained, doesn’t it? This horrible pandemic. It is not a pleasant result”, the queen told Asef Hussain, a former COVID-19 patient, who is the third member of his family to be admitted to hospital with coronavirus, his brother dying first and then his father.
During the video call with medical workers, the queen listened to stories about how they coped with the huge wave of Covid-19 patients, with a senior nurse telling her: “we held their hands, wiped their tears and gave them comfort“.
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Ending the videoconference with the medical staff, the queen discussed with the construction team that built the care unit in a few weeks, given the increase in the number of patients.
“It’s interesting, when something vital happens, everyone works together. It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” she said.
The staff of the British public health system worked under a lot of pressure during the pandemic. Some 33,000 NHS health workers left their posts between July and September 2021, 7,000 of them to find a better balance in their lives, according to official statistics.