Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg just revealed itâs âextremely likelyâ both she and her father contracted coronavirus.
Sheâs âbasically recoveredâ after a period of self-isolation, but sheâs trying to use her experience to urge other young people to stay home as much as they can.
âOur actions can be the difference between life and death for many others,â she said.
Thunberg, 17, posted an update to Instagram on Tuesday explaining her situation. About a week and a half ago, after returning from Central Europe with her father, she started to experience fatigue, shivers, a sore throat and a cough. Her dad had the same symptoms, she said, but they were much worse than hers, and he also had an intense fever.
âI almost didnât feel ill,â she wrote. âMy last cold was much worse than this! Had it not been for someone else having the virus simultainously [sic] I might not even have suspected anything.â
Thunberg self-isolated away from her mother and sister, and after about ten days she says she feels much better now. She wasnât been tested for the virus, she explained, because where she lives in Sweden only the most dire cases are tested.
Swedenâs approach to containing the virus has been much less strict than many other European countries. High schools and universities have been shut down and gatherings of more than 500 people have been banned â but restaurants, bars, retail stores, elementary schools, and many other services are still in operation.
The Guardian quoted one critic who accused the government of âplaying Russian roulette with the Swedish population.â
Thunberg, called on young people specifically to listen to medical advice and stay home as much as possible in order to contain the spread of the virus. Even people who donât feel sick should take heed, she stressed,
âMany (especially young people) might not notice any symptoms at all, or very mild symptoms. Then they donât know they have the virus and can pass it on to people in risk groups,â she explained.
âWe who donât belong to a risk group have an enormous responsibility.â
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