Greta: I fear I’ve caught the virus
TEENAGE activist Greta Thunberg is self-isolating over fears she and her father have coronavirus.
The eco-warrior, 17, revealed both she and father Svante, 50, had shown symptoms after their recent tour of Europe taken by train before travel restrictions were put in place.
Neither has been tested as Sweden reserved tests for those with severe symptoms in at-risk groups. But they have both self-isolated.
Ms Thunberg told the New Scientist: ‘I came home from central Europe and I isolated myself from the beginning, because I thought I might as well as I’ve been on trains so I don’t want to put anyone else at risk.
‘But I started feeling some symptoms after a few days. At the same time my father was feeling much more intense symptoms.
‘The important thing is I didn’t basically feel that I was ill. It could be that I was feeling unusually tired, I was coughing a bit. That is very dangerous because you don’t know you have it. If it wouldn’t have been for my father getting it at the same time and much more intense than me, I might not even have noticed it, that I was sick.
‘Of course I’m not 100 per cent sure I have got it. But it would have been very strange if it would have been something else because it just fits. Especially my father’s reaction, it’s exactly fitting with the symptoms.
‘I was feeling tired, had shivers, a sore throat and coughed. My dad experienced the same symptoms but much more intense.’
Saying that she has recovered, Ms Thunberg urged people to stay apart, saying: ‘Many people don’t feel symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms, but it can still be contagious. So you have to really practice social distancing whether you feel ill or not.’
Ms Thunberg was in Britain last month for a rally that attracted up to 15,000 people. She also visited the European Parliament in Brussels as part of her tour.