Princess Sofia joins frontline health workers to fight COVID-19

In a bid to ease work load on health workers dealing coronavirus patients, Princess Sofia of the Sweden has started to work in a hospital.

The royal, 35, who is married to Prince Carl Philip, 40, took a three-day medical course at Sophiahemmet University College in Stockholm, where she is an honorary chair member.

She is among 80 people a week who have completed the emergency online training to help the hospital, which has been overwhelmed during the COVID-19 outbreak, said a report.

“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 said in a statement.

She won’t be working directly with COVID-19 patients, but rather supporting doctors and nurses through kitchen shifts, disinfecting instruments and cleaning, Pia Hultkrantz, spokeswoman for Sophiahemmet Hospital, said.

“They’re going to relieve the health care professionals during this crisis so that those who are trained to care can actually do it. In other words, anyone who attends this training will not have any patient-close care,” Hultkrantz added, according to Royal Central. “Regardless, none of the course participants will work directly with corona patients.”

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The princess has two children with Carl-Phillip,  Prince Alexander and Prince Gabriel, who are fifth and sixth in line to the throne.

Prior to marrying the Swedish royal,  Sofia boasted a successful career as a glamour model and reality television star, as she appeared on the Swedish version of Paradise Hotel.