Queen Elizabeth to give rare televised speech about the coronavirus

It will be only the fourth time the queen has made a special broadcast.

Queen Elizabeth after recording her annual Christmas Day message at Windsor Castle in England on Dec. 23, 2019.Steve Parsons / AFP - Getty Images file
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Queen Elizabeth II will give a rare televised address on Sunday night to address the coronavirus pandemic, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.

It will be only the fourth time the Queen has made a special broadcast, with the last one being in 2002 following the death of the Queen Mother.

She also did a televised address ahead of Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 and one about the First Gulf War in 1991.

The palace said the speech was recorded at Windsor Castle and will be broadcast to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth "in relation to the coronavirus outbreak."

The televised event will be shown at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

As of April 4, coronavirus cases were confirmed in more than 200 countries and territories.

More than 1 million people globally have been sickened, and more than 50,000 have died of the virus since the start of January, according to NBC News reports, the World Health Organization (WHO) and figures from state government leaders and health officials.

In the United Kingdom, there are more than 41,000 confirmed cases and over 4,000 deaths. In March, Prince Charles, 71, announced that he had tested positive for the virus. He has since recovered and on Friday opened London's newest hospital, which was created in just nine days, to help the capital cope with the coronavirus outbreak.