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Norway

BREAKING: King Harald and Queen Sonja in quarantine after Royal Court employee tests positive for Covid

King Harald and Queen Sonja are in quarantine after a Royal Court employee tested positive for Covid-19. The Royal Court made the announcement on November 19th 2020.

King Harald has, as a result of this, gone into self-imposed home quarantine. Queen Sonja is also in quarantine as a result of close contact with the person in question. As of now both the King and Queen are well and have shown no signs of coronavirus. In addition to King Harald and Queen Sonja, 14 employees at the Royal Court are also now in quarantine.

As a result of the quarantine, His Majesty the King will lead the Council of State on November 20th 2020 by telephone from Bygdø Royal Estate. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will take over His Father`s role and hold an audience with the President of Estonia as planned at the Royal Palace on the same day.

This is not the first time the King and Queen have been quarantined. When the King and Queen completed their state visit to Jordan earlier this year, the royals went into isolation after returning home in line with the then newly introduced infection control rules. However, this is the first time the royals have been quarantined as a result of close contact with an infected person. It is not yet known who at the Royal Court is infected.

It is assumed that the Royal Court will make further statements when the King and Queen have been tested and the test results are available. King Harald was hospitalized earlier this autumn. He was tested for Covid-19 then, but the test was negative. The hospitalization was then a part of a successful heart operation.

The Royal Court states that they have routines that are in line with rules and recommendations from the authorities related to infection control, including the practice of distance regulations, the use of face masks, intensified cleaning and hand hygiene, as well as the use of home offices.

About author

Senior Europe Correspondent Oskar Aanmoen has a master in military and political history of the Nordic countries. He has written six books on historical subjects and more than 1.500 articles for Royal Central. He has also interview both Serbian and Norwegian royals. Aanmoen is based in Oslo, Norway.