Queen Elizabeth in COVID-19 Scare as Castle Staff Tests Positive For Virus During Monarch's Summer Holiday
(Photo : Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
Queen Elizabeth II Visits Berlin
BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 24: Queen Elizabeth II arrives for the state banquet in her honour at Schloss Bellevue palace on the second of the royal couple's four-day visit to Germany on June 24, 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The Queen and Prince Philip are scheduled to visit Berlin, Frankfurt and the concentration camp memorial at Bergen-Belsen during their trip, which is their first to Germany since 2004. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Over the weekend, a worker at Queen Elizabeth's summer palace tested positive for COVID-19; but the monarch will remain at the Scottish retreat, according to a report.

On Saturday, a worker at Balmoral, who was staying in a different building on the estate, tested positive for the virus and was sent home. The 95-year-old Queen will spend her summer vacation in Balmoral, where she is said to be spending time with a "castle-full" of family.

Royal staff tested positive for COVID-19

Per The Sun, the monarch has had her vaccination and has previously advised her countrymen to do so as well. Following the worker's positive COVID-19 test, other estate employees were instructed to wear masks and maintain a social distance, according to the report.

The staffer was sent home on Saturday after a positive PCR test, but Queen Elizabeth chose to spend her summer vacation at the Scottish retreat. The yearly vacation is Her Majesty's chance to "get back to normal" following the loss of Prince Philip and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's crisis.

Prince Andrew, his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, granddaughter Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mozzi, and her youngest son Prince Edward and wife Sophie are said to be among her "castle-full" of family.

Workers have been ordered to wear face masks and maintain social distance, while members of the royal family are very much moving on as they were, according to the source. They further said that Queen Elizabeth has granted her approval for employees to continue serving meals after a proposal for royals to assist themselves from a buffet table was rejected. The royals will also have picnics on the extensive estate while shooting stags, MIRROR reported.

Insiders said the Queen and her family may have opted to skip Sunday's church service on the estate while they awaited the results of PCR tests. Last Monday, the Queen formally began her summer vacation in Balmoral. At Balmoral Castle, she was greeted by a guard of honor, which included a Shetland pony mascot.

Read Also: Prince Andrew Sexual Abuse Claim Prompts Royal Family to Review Titles; Jeffrey Epstein's Employee Plans to Testify Against Him

Queen Elizabeth takes the first getaway since Prince Philip's death

The Queen's visit to Balmoral marks her first time away from Windsor Castle since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh in April. Family gatherings are planned, with Prince William, Kate Middleton, and their three children, as well as Zara and Mike Tindall, scheduled to visit later this month.

In February, the British prime minister urged vaccine skeptics to get vaccinated. Queen Elizabeth made an unusual intervention, suggesting that refusing to get the vaccination is selfish, and urging individuals who are hesitant to think about other people rather than themselves.

It comes as official data show that daily COVId-19 cases in the UK are continuing to rise, although fatalities have held steady, despite "Professor Lockdown" Neil Ferguson's warning that daily infections may potentially reach 100,000 per day.

The number of positive coronavirus tests reported by the Department of Health increased by 13% in a week to 28,438. For the past 10 days, the number of infections has been steadily increasing. And, according to other data, hospital admissions in England are still slowly increasing. On Saturday, another 689 COVID-19 patients required medical attention, up from 630 the week before.

Meanwhile, yesterday's death toll was nearly a third lower than last Monday's, with another 26 people added to the Government's official toll, down from 37 the week before. Because of the weekend registration lag, daily numbers might vary greatly from day to day, especially on Mondays.

However, the general trend in deaths has remained flat for over a week now, although cases are weeks behind cases due to the time it takes to get very ill after becoming infected. The number of hospitalizations is influenced by the number of fatalities, Daily Mail reported.

Related Article: Queen Elizabeth Decides to Hand Prince Harry's Royal Responsibility to Kate Middleton; Here Are 2 Major Roles She Will Get


@YouTube