13-Year Old Boy Dies in London After Testing Positive for Covid-19
Days after testing positive for coronavirus, a 13-year old boy died at King’s College Hospital in London on Monday, hospital officials and his family said on Tuesday. His relatives said that he had no underlying illnesses.
Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab is believed to be Britain’s youngest confirmed death in the coronavirus pandemic, as reported by South China Morning Post.
The family said he “started showing symptoms and had difficulty breathing” before he was admitted to the hospital. “He was put on a ventilator and put into an induced coma but sadly died yesterday morning,” the family said through a family friend, Mark Stephenson, adding “We are beyond devastated,”
Nathalie MacDermott, a lecturer at King’s College said that “while we know it is much less likely for children to suffer severe Covid-19 infection than older adults, this case highlights the importance of us all taking the precautions we can to reduce the spread of infection in the UK and worldwide.”
She urged for research into deaths outside of the elderly or groups expected to get an infection, as it “may indicate an underlying genetic susceptibility.”
According to WHO, there are a total of 780,508 confirmed cases, with 36,800 deaths worldwide. On Tuesday, the Britain announced 381 deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, the highest figure since the pandemic started. As of now, there are 22,453 cases and 1789 deaths in the country.
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