Child, 12, becomes one of the youngest victims to die of coronavirus in England
- The child was admitted to hospital in critical condition and died on Monday
- They had tested positive for Covid-19 but cause of death has not been confirmed
- Sheffield Children’s Hospital offers ‘sincere condolences’ to the child’s family
- Yesterday NHS England announced a 13-day-old baby had died with Covid-19
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
A 12-year-old child is among the youngest people in Britain to die from coronavirus, after passing away in hospital earlier this week.
Sheffield Children’s Hospital confirmed that a child died on Monday after being admitted in a critical condition.
The hospital said that they had tested positive for Covid-19 but the cause of death had not been determined.
Sheffield Children’s Hospital confirmed a 12-year-old child died with Covid-19 on Monday
In a statement, the hospital said: ‘Sadly on Monday June 15, a child passed away at Sheffield Children’s having been brought in to the hospital in a critical condition.
‘Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful.
‘The cause of death is not yet known. Tests have confirmed that the child had Covid-19, but it isn’t yet clear if it was a contributing factor.’
John Somers, chief executive of Sheffield Children’s said: ‘Our sincere condolences go to the family and we ask the media to respect their privacy at this difficult time.’
NHS England has announced that a 13-day-old baby thought to have no underlying health conditions has died with Covid-19.
The baby is believed to be the youngest victim of the disease in the UK, and their death was announced in Thursday’s coronavirus death toll in English hospitals.
The figures released on Thursday revealed that a further 62 Covid-19 patients had died in English hospitals, with the eldest aged 96.
Children seem to be much less likely to suffer the most severe effects of the disease, but 19 people under the age of 19 have died from the virus in hospitals in England.
In May, a six-week-old child with underlying health conditions died.
Previously, the youngest victim with no pre-existing health problems was thought to be Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who died in March aged just 13.
Doctors have also been alarmed at a spike in cases of an illness resembling Kawasaki disease.
Symptoms include a sudden high temperature, rash, swollen hands and feet, dry and cracked lips and tongue and red, sore eyes.
A study led by Imperial College London and published earlier this month revealed the condition to be distinct from Kawasaki disease.
The researchers said they could not be certain the new illness is caused by Covid-19, but said 45 of the 58 children involved in the study had evidence of current or past coronavirus infection.
Number 10’s scientific advisory panel SAGE revealed the reproduction rate – the average number of people each Covid-19 patient infects – is still between 0.7 and 0.9, meaning the coronavirus is firmly in retreat after terrorizing Britain for months. It must stay below one or Britain will face another crisis. Separate data released for the first time today also claimed the UK’s current growth rate – how the number of new daily cases is changing day-by-day – could be as low as minus 4 per cent. If the rate becomes greater than zero, the disease could once again spiral out of control
They added that the emergence of a new condition during a pandemic is ‘unlikely to be a coincidence’.
Britain today announced 173 more coronavirus deaths including a 12-year-old, as government scientists confirmed the outbreak is in retreat with the number of new cases shrinking by 4 per cent each day and the crucial R rate remaining below the dreaded level of one.
Number 10’s scientific advisory panel SAGE revealed the reproduction rate – the average number of people each Covid-19 patient infects – is still between 0.7 and 0.9, meaning the coronavirus is firmly in retreat after terrorizing Britain for months. It must stay below one or Britain will face another crisis.
Separate data released for the first time today also claimed the UK’s current growth rate – how the number of new daily cases is changing day-by-day – could be as low as minus 4 per cent. If the rate becomes greater than zero, the disease could once again spiral out of control.
Department of Health officials say the death toll now stands at 42,461. But the tally only includes lab-confirmed patients — unlike other damning figures that take into account all suspected deaths and show the actual number of victims has already topped 50,000.