Couple kiss before final separation

A JEWISH great-grandmother who died after being admitted with her husband to hospital with coronavirus was able to “snatch a kiss” moments before the two were separated.

Carol and Harvey Kleiman tested positive for the virus on April 1 and admitted to St James’ Hospital in Leeds.

Before being sent to different wards, Carol, 79, and Harvey, 83, had a chance kiss each other in the corridor of the hospital.

“He was going one way and she was going another,” Mrs Kleiman’s stepdaughter, Frances Flaxington, 59, told

The Times. “I’m just so glad they were able to see each other for the last time when they were moving around the wards.”

Mrs Kleiman, who had a heart condition, was moved to St James’ intensive care unit where she died on April 5.

Her husband was discharged two weeks after his admission and returned to their home in Moortown, Leeds, where, apart from a carer, he is unable to receive visitors.

Carol and Harvey met through Leeds’ Jewish community and had been due to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in September. Two hundred people attended Mrs Kleiman’s shiva, which was broadcast over video-conferencing app Zoom, and included family from Australia and Florida.

Mrs Kleiman, who was a volunteer with the Leedsbranch of the Women’s International Zionist Organisation, was a popular figure in the Leeds community. She had three great-children, six grandchildren, two step-daughters, and a son, Ian, who lives in Australia.

Carol Kleiman