Princess Sofia Of Sweden Swaps Tiara For Scrubs As She Joins Medical Staff During COVID-19 Outbreak

Apr 17, 2020 by apost team

After completing an intensive training program, 35-year-old Princess Sofia of Sweden joined healthcare workers this week on the frontlines at Sophiahemmet Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden to assist hospital staff with non-medical related work in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

People reports that because the hospital is currently overwhelmed due to COVID-19, they launched the emergency training program online, which has already attracted around 80 sign ups a week. For her first day on the job, photographers took photos of Sofia prepared for the job, putting her hair up in a ponytail and wearing scrubs, a hospital ID and white sneakers.

“In the crisis we find ourselves in, the Princess wants to get involved and make a contribution as a voluntary worker to relieve the large workload of health care professionals,” The Royal Court announced in a statement on Wednesday.

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The hospital’s communications manager, Pia Hultkrantz, told Independent.ie that while volunteers like Princess Sofia cannot work directly with patients in any medical capacity, they will provide much needed relief for doctors who need to focus on their patients.

"In other words, anyone who attends this training will not have any patient-close care,” Hultkrantz told Independent.ie. “They can disinfect equipment, do shifts in the kitchen and cleaning. Regardless, none of the course participants will work directly with corona patients," Pia Hultkrantz said.

As of Thursday, Sophiahemmet Hospital had no confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to Independent.ie’s reporting, though so far around 1,200 in Sweden have died from the virus. Sweden has yet to institute a government lockdown or enforce social distancing, and schools remain open across the country. The country’s foreign minister, Anne Linde, reportedly also said that she did not believe in enforcing a national lockdown, citing reasons of practicality, according to Financial Times.

Besides Princess Sofia, who married into the royal family back in 2015, other royal family members from different countries have also been doing their part to fight against this unprecedented virus outbreak. Independent.ie reports that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who recently moved to Los Angeles, delivered meals on Easter Sunday via the Project Angel Food. The couple also returned to the charity — which is currently delivering around 2,000 meals a day to community members — to volunteer this Wednesday.

Like the British royal family, Swedish royalty has isolated itself and is performing its royal duties from home, according to People. Rather than meeting face-to-face on Easter, the Swedish family joined other families celebrating digitally across the globe for a virtual holiday get together over video chat. Family members who participated in the call include King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Crown Princess Victoria, Crown Prince Daniel and their two children, son Prince Oscar, 4, and daughter Princess Estelle, 8.

Prince Carl-Philip and Princess Sofia also joined in on the Easter call with their two sons, Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel, who no longer have their royal titles, according to People.

What do you think about Princess Sofia helping out on the frontlines? How have public figures in your community joined the fight against coronavirus? Let us know and pass this interesting story on to friends and family members.