Six-week-old believed to be youngest Covid death

A SIX-WEEK-OLD baby is believed to be the youngest person to have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.

The infant, who had a pre-existing health condition, was one of 332 victims announced by NHS England yesterday, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 22,765.

A statement said: “Patients were aged between six weeks and 103 years old. 22 of the 332 patients (aged between 40 and 96 years old) had no known underlying health condition.”

While it is much less likely for children to suffer severely from Covid-19 compared with adults, yesterday’s NHS England figures show 12 deaths so far for hospital patients aged 0 to 19 years old who had tested positive. Some nine, including the baby, had a pre-existing health condition, while three did not.

The youngest victim with no known underlying health issues was Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who died in March aged just 13.

People of all ages with underlying health problems are believed to be at higher risk from the effects of the virus.

But a major British study of almost 17,000 patients with severe Covid-19 found that only a very small number of children fall seriously ill. The study, which examined data from 16,749 Covid-19 patients in 166 hospitals between February 6 and April 18, found that under-18s accounted for less than 2% of the study sample and under-fives accounting for 0.8%.

Meanwhile, the UK looks likely to operate under slightly different lockdown rules next week.

After Wales’ lockdown announcement yesterday – in Scotland, only alterations to exercise guidance are expected, while those in Northern Ireland have been told there will be only “nuanced changes”.

Tomorrow Boris Johnson is due to declare the result of the UK Government’s review into what rule changes should be brought in for England.

The Prime Minister has promised to exercise “maximum caution” when tinkering with the restrictions but he has recognised that the devolved nations could move at “different speeds” when releasing the lockdown.

Asked to sum up his experience of working with the UK Government during the pandemic, Mr Drakeford said yesterday it had been “a bit of a fits and starts experience” but added discussions have worked well with Westminster ministers.