Teen climate ‘activist’ Greta Thunberg has shared on social media that she is almost sure she had the Coronavirus and now has recovered. In an Instagram post, Greta has written that she was travelling around central Europe recently and upon reaching Sweden, had isolated herself away from her mother and sister for two weeks.
Greta has added that she started experiencing symptoms of a sore throat, cough, fatigue and shivers. The teenager wrote that her father, who had travelled with her from Brussels, had similar symptoms. She further wrote that anyone feeling ill was advised to stay at home so she had also done the same.
Greta has further written that in Sweden, one cannot get tested for coronavirus unless they are in the need for emergency medical care and anyone feeling ill is advised to stay at home and isolate themselves.
She affirmed that she has not been tested for COVID-19 but it is ‘extremely likely’ that she had the virus. She has also added that she has ‘basically recovered’ now and she almost did not feel ill during the last two weeks, adding that her last cold was much worse than this.
“Had it not been for someone else having the virus simultaneously I might not even have suspected anything. Then I would just have thought I was feeling unusually tired with a bit of a cough”, Greta wrote, implying that she suspects she had a coronavirus infection even without getting tested because people are getting infected with the virus.
Greta added that it is the very thing that makes low-risk people, that is young people, may not experience any severe symptoms at all, even if they are infected with the coronavirus, and that is what makes it most dangerous. She adds that since high-risk people, that is the old and sick, are more vulnerable to the disease, might end up contracting it from the youngsters if the young do not isolate themselves.
Greta has advised people to follow the advice from experts and stay at home.
It is not clear why Greta has been travelling around central Europe. In early March, the ‘activist’ had called for a ‘digital protest’ to the students in Sweden and around the world who had been following her in the “school strike for climate” movement. on social media, she had also urged activists to stay at home and post images with #ClimateStrikeOnline hashtag instead of joining demonstrations on streets.
Sweden has 2272 cases of coronavirus so far. But the testing for the virus is very limited as only those with symptoms that need hospitalisation and high-risk individuals, including medical staff working with the risk-groups are being tested.
