Queen Elizabeth II does not plan to stop conducting her royal engagements amid the outbreak of China’s novel coronavirus, the Daily Mail reports.
It is understood that the Queen had been advised to self-isolate and cancel her garden parties, which gather tens of thousands of people at Buckingham Palace and Holyroodhouse, her official residence in Edinburgh, in May.
However, a source told the Daily Mail that the Queen chose not to change her plans because it could “spark panic in the general population”.
Another source said that she would conduct “business as usual”, as was the case with terror attacks and the 2009 swine flu outbreak.
Later in the day, the 93-year-old Queen is going to attend a Westminster Abbey service to mark Commonwealth Day. The event is expected to attract a 2,000-strong congregation including senior royals.
The Queen was seen donning a pair of long gloves during an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. Although she often wears gloves in public, she has not been known to wear them at an event of this kind – sparking speculation that it was a precautionary measure against the new virus.
The pneumonia-like disease, which was first registered in China in late 2019, has since spread to 93 countries and territories, according to the World Health Organisation. It has infected almost 102,000 people worldwide and killed over 3,500, with most cases reported in China. More than 55,000 people have recovered worldwide.
COVID-19, which can cause fever, coughing and shortness of breath, is believed to pose a higher risk to older adults and people with underlying medical conditions like diabetes or heart, lung or kidney disease.
The were 209 cases identified in the UK as of Saturday night. Two deaths were also reported last week, a woman in her 70s and a man in his early 80s. According to England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jenny Harries, the UK is still in the containment phase but is “teetering on the edge” of sustained transmission.
The government is planning to unveil an emergency bill in Parliament to stop the spread of the disease, which will include safeguards for NHS volunteers and plans for courts to deposit people by phone and video links to avoid them having to attend in person.
Dozens of vaccines are in the works to prevent the virus, with the first human studies set to begin in the United States, China and South Korea next month.
