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Norway's King Harald tests positive for Covid-19

AFP/The Local
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Norway's King Harald tests positive for Covid-19
The palace announced Tuesday that King Harald had tested positive for Covid. Pictured is a file photo of King Harald of Norway (R), Queen Sonja (C), Crown Prince Haakon (L) attending the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony on December 10, 2021 at the City Hall in Oslo. Photo by Odd Andersen / AFP

Norway's King Harald has tested positive for coronavirus and has "mild symptoms", the Royal House of Norway announced Tuesday.

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"His Majesty the King has tested positive for coronavirus," The Royal House of Norway said in a statement on its website.

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"The king has mild symptoms and will be on sick leave for the next few days," the statement added. Crown Prince Haakon will take over the king's royal duties until further notice.

King Harald attended last weekend's Biathlon World Cup event at Holmenkollen, Oslo. The king turned 85 in February.

The king, and his wife, have both received three vaccines against Covid-19, public broadcaster NRK reports

Harald, a former Olympic yachtsman who has been on the throne for over 30 years, has refused to abdicate despite several years of ill-health, including an operation for bladder cancer in 2003.

Harald is the last of the Nordic royal heads of state to catch coronavirus. In early January, Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf, 75, and Queen Silvia, 78, both tested positive, followed by Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, 81 in February.

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