Coronavirus: Elisabeth II asks the British to rise to the challenge

Text by: Muriel Delcroix Follow

While the toll of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom now amounts to 4,934 dead with 621 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Queen of England wished to intervene and address the British on Sunday evening during a rare television intervention while the government threatens to tighten containment if it is not respected due to particularly mild weather.

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From our correspondent in London,

In this special address to Windsor, only the fourth since the start of her long reign, Elisabeth II addressed her subjects very simply, urging them to rise to the challenge posed by this epidemic: " I hope that In the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how we have met this challenge. And those who will succeed us will say that the British of this generation were as determined as the others; and that the qualities of self-discipline, of calm and benevolent resolution but also of solidarity always characterize this country. "

A very personal message in which the sovereign spoke of her first speech as a young princess at the start of the Second World War when many families were separated by the conflict. Elisabeth II wanted above all to reassure and unite the British but also to remind them that they have a duty to protect themselves and others while the government struggles to enforce confinement in the face of exceptionally mild and sunny weather. Several large parks had to be closed on Sunday due to the influx of walkers the day before and authorities are now threatening to ban exercise outside if people continue to ignore his instructions.

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• Coronavirus
• United Kingdom
• Elisabeth II