The Queen has revealed that contracting coronavirus earlier this year left her feeling "very tired and exhausted". The 95-year-old monarch shared her experience during a virtual visit to the Royal London Hospital, where she spoke to a former Covid patient and staff.
During the call to mark the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Unit, the Queen told patient Asef Hussain: "It does leave one very tired and exhausted, doesn't it? This horrible pandemic. It's not a nice result." Mr Hussain, whose father and brother died of the virus, spent seven weeks on a ventilator and still relies on a portable oxygen machine.
The Queen, who is patron of the hospital, also spoke about the difficulties of not being able to visit loved ones in hospital during the pandemic. She praised the staff for their efforts, with senior sister Mireia Lopez Rey Ferrer describing how nurses held patients' hands and provided comfort, saying it "felt at times that we were running a marathon with no finish line".
The 155-bed Queen Elizabeth Unit was built in just five weeks to cope with the surge in Covid patients, compared to the usual five months. The Queen commended the construction team, remarking on how everyone worked together when faced with a vital need. When the team mentioned the "Dunkirk spirit", she replied: "Thank goodness it still exists."
