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King Felipe VI of Spain isolates himself after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19, the palace said Monday.
The 52-year-old monarch, who today chaired a meeting of his Scientific Council in Madrid, has suspended his official functions for the next ten days.
He learned that he had come into contact with someone the day before and had since tested positive for Covid-19.
Queen Letizia, 48, and the royal couple’s daughters, Leonor, 15, and Sofia, 13, will not isolate themselves, the palace said.
King Felipe VI of Spain (left) chairs a meeting of the Scientific Council of the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid on Monday
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia attend the 2020 ‘Francisco Cerecedo’ awards at the Prado Museum on November 18, 2020 in Madrid
King Felipe VI of Spain, Queen Letizia of Spain (far right), Crown Princess Leonor (right) and Princess Sofia visit Somao on October 17, 2020
It comes after 15-year-old Crown Princess Leonor isolated herself for two weeks in September after a Covid-19 infection was detected among her classmates. Later it tested negative.
Letizia was also forced to isolate herself earlier this year after a meeting with Spain’s Equality Minister Irene Montero before testing positive.
Felipe VI ascended to the throne in July 2014 after the abdication of his father Juan Carlos I.
Lothario, 82, is the subject of ongoing corruption investigations, the latest one opened this month following a report alleging that he had used credit cards linked to foreign accounts that were not in his name.
The former king was already the subject of official investigations in Spain and Switzerland for possible financial irregularities.
Those investigations led him to leave Spain in August and it was reported that he was in hiding with his lover in Abu Dhabi.
epa08830889 Queen Sofia of Spain (R) and the president of the Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL in Spanish symbols) Juan Vicente Peral (L) during his visit to the headquarters of this organization in Madrid, Spain, on November 20 of 2020
Her son’s self-isolation by coronavirus comes as Spain has recorded more than 1.58 million cases of COVID-19, the second highest count in Western Europe after France, and 43,131 deaths.
The total number of infections has risen by nearly 26,000 since Friday and the number of deaths has risen by 512, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
New infections measured in the past 14 days fell to 374 per 100,000 people as of Monday, from 530 in the first week of November.
The country is preparing for a comprehensive vaccination program in January and expects to have covered a substantial proportion of the population in six months.
King Felipe VI of Spain speaks with his wife, Queen Letizia, during the 2020 Princess of Asturias Award ceremony at the Reconquinta Hotel in Oviedo on October 16, 2020
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain attend a mass to commemorate Galicia Day at the San Martino Pinario church in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain, on July 25, 2020.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Sunday that 13,000 vaccination centers had been established to boost the program.
“A very substantial part of the population will be able to be vaccinated, with all guarantees, in the first half of the year,” Sánchez said at a press conference after a two-day online summit of G20 leaders.
Spain will implement a single national strategy, starting with “priority groups,” Sánchez said, adding that he will present the plan to cabinet on Tuesday. He also said that more health professionals would be hired.
“We have some difficult months ahead, but the roadmap is already prepared,” said Sánchez.
