Published 03:34 IST, March 25th 2020
Greta Thunberg reveals that it is 'extremely likely' she had coronavirus
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on March 24 took to Instagram to reveal that it was 'extremely likely' that she had contracted the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on March 24 took to Instagram to reveal that it was 'extremely likely' that she had contracted the novel coronavirus COVID-19. In her post, the teen climate activist mentioned that she, along with her father, had gone into self-isolated following a trip to around central Europe about two weeks ago. Sweden has reported 2,286 cases of infection and 36 deaths so far.
'Recovered'
Further in the post, Greta revealed that during her self-quarantine period, she was "feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed." She added that her father showed similar symptoms but with intense fever.
Adding that Sweden does not allow people to test for the infection unless they want an emergency medical treatment, Greta revealed that she had not got tested. However, she said "it was extremely likely" that she'd had it, before adding that she had now recovered.
Greta Thunberg also issued an urgent warning to young people to take the virus seriously – even if they themselves were often only facing mild symptoms – as she asked people to stay at home. On March 23, the Swedish government unveiled a series of economic measures worth up to 28 billion euros to protect companies and workers from the fallout of COVID-19.
"This is a completely unique situation for Sweden's economy," Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said in a press conference. "We want today's announcement to enable as many companies as possible to make it through this crisis," she added.
As per international media reports, the measures presented included amended rules for temporary layoffs, under which the government would shoulder a bigger share of the pay for staff made temporarily redundant. Also, employers in Sweden normally pay for the first two weeks of sick leave but during April and May, the state would now instead pay from day one. In addition, companies would also be able to put off paying taxes.
(Image Credits: AP)
Updated 03:34 IST, March 25th 2020