On the Radar

Sweden's Princess Sofia joins hospital as COVID-19 frontliner

Agence France-Presse

April 21, 2020 | 9:42am

Sweden's Princess Sofia joins hospital as COVID-19 frontliner

Princess Sofia of Sweden poses during her first day at work at the Sophiahemmet hospital in Stockholm, Sweden on April 16, 2020, amid the new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The Princess has completed an intensive training program and will now be able to assist hospital staff with non-medical related tasks during the coronavirus pandemic at the Sophiahemmet hospital in Stockholm, of which she is the patron.

AFP / Jonas Ekstromer / TT News Agency

STOCKHOLM — Sweden's Princess Sofia has begun doing shifts as a healthcare assistant in Stockholm after completing a three-day course to help ease strained healthcare resources during the new coronavirus pandemic, the Swedish Royal Court said Friday.

The 35-year-old princess started volunteering at the Sophiahemmet hospital in Stockholm on Thursday.

"As the honorary chair of Sophiahemmet, she wants to help out in this crisis that Sweden is in," Margareta Thorgren, information director at the royal court, told AFP.

Princess Sofia, who joined the royal family when she married Prince Carl Philip in 2015, completed a three-day course last week to be able to help out.

The course was part of an initiative to re-train furloughed airline cabin crew and hotel employees to work as hospital and nursing home staff.

Sweden has not imposed the extraordinary lockdown measures seen across Europe, instead urging people to take responsibility and follow official recommendations.

The government has banned gatherings of more than 50 people and barred visits to nursing homes.

On Friday, Sweden reported 13,216 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,400 deaths.