Youngest patient yet among the latest dead

A PATIENT under 20 has died after testing positive for coronavirus at a Leicester hospital.

Details around the death are limited at this stage, but it was announced yesterday as part of the trust’s weekly update on Covidrelated fatalities.

The patient under 20 becomes the youngest to have died at a UHL-run hospital since the start of the pandemic.

Previously several patients in their 20s were included in the figures – some announced in more recent weeks.

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust does not routinely provide information about whether patients who have died had underlying health conditions or their exact age.

In line with national procedure, anyone who has tested positive within the 28 days before their death is counted in the figures.

The fatality was one of 17 announced yesterday.

UHL’s weekly update showed that the other 16 patients who died were aged between their 50s and their 90s.

Since the start of the pandemic 1,443 patients being treated at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital or Glenfield Hospital have died after a positive Covid test.

This week’s announcement covers the period from Wednesday, March 24, until yesterday.