Trip to Asda killed great-gran, 87
A GREAT- grandmother has died after catching coronavirus in her local Asda, her son said.
Jean Howes, 87, was self-isolating – apart from leaving her home for an hour a week to buy essential groceries.
Yesterday her heartbroken son Jeff, 58, from Coventry, begged people to stay indoors and obey social distancing, amid fears that supermarkets could become superspreaders of the illness.
‘She would go out literally once a week for about an hour,’ said Mr Howes. ‘She knew she was in the higher risk category, so she was careful. I’d take her shopping, just to the local Asda. She was independent but she stayed indoors as much as she could.
‘I would drop her there, I wouldn’t go around with her, she would do her shopping and I would do my shopping and meet her at the tills to take her home again.’ Mr Howes added: ‘Mum was a good age, but she still had her independence until the end. The last time I took her shopping was a week last Sunday.
‘She had a little bit of a cold. I said, “Do you want me to do your shopping for you?” But she wanted to go herself.
‘Unfortunately, as the week went on, the symptoms got worse. It wasn’t until last Friday that things took a turn for the worst and Mum’s symptoms escalated.’
Mrs Howes was taken to Coventry University Hospital, where she died on Monday afternoon. Her son said: ‘My mum was a kind, loving, generous lady that thought the world of her family.’
Commercial driver Mr Howes added: ‘We were probably the same as everybody else, thinking, this is a horrible thing but it won’t affect us. If you are thinking like that, it can happen to you and when it does, it hits hard.’