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Royal says, 'I thought it was the usual flu,' after testing positive for coronavirus

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Karl von Habsburg (Photo: Getty Images)
Karl von Habsburg (Photo: Getty Images)

A member of the Austrian royal family has tested positive for the coronavirus.

"Panic mode is not appropriate," said Karl von Habsburg, the Archduke of Austria and the Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, after going into quarantine on Thursday when he found out he contracted the Covid-19 virus, reports People.

"It’s annoying, but I’m fine. It’s not the black plague," the royal told Austrian TV channel oe24. "I thought it was the usual flu. When a friend called me that he had a positive test at a congress in Switzerland, I was also tested."

According to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), the coronavirus is thought to spread between people who are in close contact with one another. This happens when an infected person coughs or sneezes close enough to someone else for the droplets to be inhaled into the lungs. It’s for this reason that many a government, including the South African government, is prohibiting gatherings of more than 100 people.

Heeding the call, royal families across the world have taken a few precautionary measures of their own, many of which included postponing or cancelling events.

For one, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have postponed several upcoming royal engagements, while Harry and Meghan are "taking government advice" in Canada, remaining huddled up with their 10-month-old son, Archie.  

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