At the time, Buckingham Palace announced the monarch was experiencing “mild cold-like symptoms”.
She was not seen in public until The Duke of Edinburgh’s service of thanksgiving at the end of March. In December 2020, Asef - the patient who spoke with the Queen - was the third member of his family to be admitted to the Royal London hospital after contracting COVID.During the conversation, the Queen acknowledged the difficulty patients had, not being able to see their families and friends while they were in the hospital.Queen Elizabeth listens to patients and staff of the hospital.
“It obviously was a very frightening experience to have COVID very badly, wasn’t it?” Queen Elizabeth asked. Imam responded: “I think what made it worse was being by themselves. Exactly. So they were alone, too.”The unit was critical as COVID cases surged in the UK throughout 2020 and 2021.