While more than 60% of Britons to fall seriously ill from the coronavirus are over 60, there are a tragic number of young lives also being taken by the disease.
To date Britain’s youngest coronavirus death has been an 18-year-old teenager, on Sunday a 26-year-old RSPCA animal carer died ‘after being off colour for a couple of days’.
Other young victims include a fit and healthy 28-year-old father, a 33-year-old pharmacist who died the day after her dad and Britain’s deputy ambassador to Hungary, 37-year-old Steven Dick.
There are a growing number of people under 40 who are falling victim to the disease, many of whom were fit and healthy before the pandemic struck.
This week the NHS Nightingale Hospital London will open at the ExCel Centre in east London. It will focus on treating younger Covid-19 patients from the Capital
According to a government audit by the Intensive Care and National Audit and Research Centre, less than 10% of critically ill Covid-19 hospital admissions are under 40, as of last Thursday.
This week the NHS Nightingale Hospital London will open at the ExCel Centre in east London. It will focus on treating younger Covid-19 patients who are at a lower risk of dying from the disease.
The temporary hospital has space for 4,000 beds, taking in patients from across London.
Despite being better placed to fight off the Covid-19 infection, many young people have tragically lost their lives, as the pandemic grips Britain.
Pooja Sharma, 33
Pharmacist Pooja Sharma , 33, worked at Eastbourne District Hospital and died last Thursday.
Pooja Sharma, 33, with her father Sudhir. The father and daughter both diedlast week after contracting Covid-19. Pooja was a pharmacist at Eastbourne District Hospital while her father worked as an immigration officer at Heathrow Airport
A friend of Pooja’s wrote on Facebook to warn the public to take coronavirus ‘very seriously and to self-isolate,’ following the pharmacist’s death last week
Her father Sudhir Sharma, an immigration officer at Heathrow Airport, had died the previous day.
A friend of Pooja’s posted online: ‘May their souls rest in peace. Sending my heartiest condolences, prayers and love to their family.’
They added: ‘Please, please, please inform family and friends to take this very seriously and to self-isolate, socially distance themselves as much as possible, for their families if not for themselves.
Adam Harkins-Sullivan, 28
Arsenal fan Adam, father to seven-year-old Harry, was admitted to University College Hospital with pneumonia last week but died after he was placed in an induced coma.
Father-of-one Adam Harkins-Sullivan had a temperate of 39.9C before he was admitted to University College Hospital with pneumonia last week. He was placed in an induced coma but died later
Before the north London painter and decorator was admitted, Adam had been seen by his GP in the surgery’s car park, where his temperature was read at 39.9C, according to the Camden News Journal.
‘We are all just in shock, because he was only a young man,’ said his devastated mother Jackki Harkins, adding: ‘He was healthy. You didn’t have to tell him to eat his greens, he was always like that.
‘He went into hospital with viral pneumonia, but other than that he was healthy. People have got to start taking this seriously. A lot of people think it’s an old person’s disease – but look what has happened to Adam.’
Steven Dick, 37
Britain’s deputy ambassador to Hungary, Steven Dick passed away last Tuesday after being diagnosed with Covid-19.
Steven Dick died from the coronavirus in Hungary. The 37-year-old was Britain’s deputy ambassador to Hungary. He passed away on Tuesday
In a statement, his parents Steven and Carol Dick said: ‘Steven was a much-loved son, grandson and nephew. He was kind, funny and generous
‘It was always his dream to work for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and he was very happy representing our country overseas.
‘We are devastated by his loss and ask for privacy at this tragic time.’
He started his career in 2005 with the Bank of Scotland as a Graduate Trainee, where he spent three years, before moving on to the Migration Directorate at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
When the Nightingale hospital at the ExCel centre opens this week, it will be taking in lower-risk patients, mostly people under 40 with no previous health conditions.
Workers are converting Parc y Scarlets rugby stadium in Swansea, Wales, into a field hospital with space for 500 beds. Staff are pictured on Monday, amid hopes the temporary hospital will open in the next two weeks
The number of young people to die from Covid-19 will continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace than people over 60.
Yesterday (Monday) a 32-year-old was the youngest death listed by the NHS’ figures, over the weekend the youngest people were a 33-year-old and a 39-year-old.
The average age for critically ill Covid-19 admissions was 64, as of last Thursday.
The first British person to catch coronavirus was 25-year-old North Wales expat Connor Reed.
Mr Reed caught the disease while teaching Wuhan, where the pandemic started and described it as ‘the worst disease I’ve ever had,’ as it left him sweating, shivering, and struggling to breathe as his eyes burned and bones ached
Michael Prendergast, a ‘fit, healthy, gym-going’ 28-year-old from Kerry, Ireland, began to suffer a headache a fortnight ago, shortly after coming back from a trip to London. Within 24 hours, the symptoms came on with brutal speed: a soaring temperature, uncontrollable shaking, and sudden, extreme breathlessness.
Connor Reed caught the disease while teaching Wuhan, where the pandemic started and described it as ‘the worst disease I’ve ever had,’ as it left him sweating, shivering, and struggling to breathe as his eyes burned and bones ached
Michael Prendergast (pictured in hospital suffering with Covid-19) said the disease made him feel ‘not far from death,’ he is now recovering at home in Kerry, Ireland
‘There is a misconception that this is just a cold or flu,’ said Michael, in a video he recorded from his hospital bed. ‘It is not. It is harrowing. It feels like you’re not far from death.’
Michael returned home from the hospital last week, but recovery still left him having bouts of breathlessness and with a high temperature.
In Britain there have been no reports of children dying from the disease, but last week a newborn baby in London, a nine-month-old infant in Manchester and a baby in Norfolk were all diagnosed with Covid-19.
When the Nightingale hospital at the ExCel centre opens, it will be taking in lower-risk patients, mostly people under 40 with no previous health conditions.
A senior doctor with knowledge of the government’s planned response told The Guardian: ‘There is a two-tier system but it’s a medically appropriate two-tier system.
‘The sick will go to the ExCel and the very sick will stay in hospital, because that’s an appropriate use of NHS resources.
‘Anyone who goes to either place will be critically ill, be suffering lung failure and be on life support through a ventilator. But those at the ExCel will be those needing less life support as they will be the ones with nothing else wrong with them,’ the doctor added.