13-year-old boy from London dies as UK coronavirus death toll jumps
A 13-year old boy from Brixton who was treated for coronavirus has died, London’s King’s College Hospital has confirmed, as UK coronavirus cases continue to rise.
Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton in south London, is believed to be the youngest person to die from the coronavirus in the UK.
A spokesperson for the hospital said it has referred the child’s death to the coroner.
Ismail’s family said in a statement they were “beyond devastated” by his death.
He had no underlying health conditions, according to his family. Doctors diagnosed him with Covid-19 on Friday, a day after he was admitted to hospital with coronavirus symptoms.
He also had trouble breathing.
“He was put on a ventilator and then put into an induced coma but sadly died yesterday [Monday] morning,” Ismail’s family said.
“To our knowledge he had no underlying health conditions. We are beyond devastated.”
Mark Stephenson, the director of Madinah College in south-west London, where Ismail’s sister works as a teacher, has set up a Go Fund Me page to raise £4,000 for Ismail’s funeral. It has now raised over £50,000, money that will go to Ismail’s family.
It said Ismail died “without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of Covid-19”.
The death came as UK coronavirus deaths jumped to 1,789 yesterday, up 381 from Sunday.
Jump in UK coronavirus deaths ‘shocking’
Minister Michael Gove called the leap in deaths “deeply shocking, disturbing (and) moving”.
“It depends on the actions of all of us,” he added. “We can delay that peak, we can flatten the curve through our own particular actions.”
Downing Street only gradually introduced restrictions to curb the spread of the UK coronavirus outbreak compared to Europe.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Brits to stay home and not leave except for food and medicine after predictions showed 250,000 people could die.
Johnson, who has since contracted coronavirus, is still leading the UK’s strategy against the coronavirus crisis.
Shops save for food shops and pharmacies have been told to close to prevent the spread of the disease.
The UK’s death toll is doubling around every 3.5 days, similar to Italy’s a fortnight ago. Italy has been in lockdown for the entirety of March.