VIRUS: First death here – and it’s the youngest in Britain yet
MAN IN 60S WITH ‘SIGNIFICANT’ UNDERLYING HEALTH PROBLEMS DIES AT NORTH MANCHESTER GENERAL HOSPITAL
A MAN diagnosed with coronavirus has died at North Manchester General Hospital, the NHS said late last night.
It’s the third death in the UK and the first in Greater Manchester.
NHS England said the man was aged ‘over 60’ and had ‘significant underlying health conditions.’ He was the youngest of the three British deaths .
He had recently travelled from an affected area, said to be Italy.
No further details were revealed. The patient has not been named. The hospital said he was being treated at its specialist infectious diseases unit.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, confirmed the news via the Department of Heath and Social Care.
He said in a statement: “I am very sorry to report that a third patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died.
“The patient, who was being treated at the North Manchester General Hospital, was over 60 years old and had ‘significant underlying health conditions.’ They had recently travelled from an affected area.
“Contract tracing is already underway.”
A spokesman for North Manchester General Hospital said: “We can confirm that sadly a patient being treated for Covid-19 has died at our specialist regional Infectious Diseases unit at North Manchester General Hospital.
“The man in his sixties tested positive after travelling to Italy and had a number of underlying health problems.
“Our thoughts are with the patient’s family who are being supported by our specialist bereavement staff.”
The announcement of the death follows confirmation on Friday that an 83-year-old great-grandfather had become the second person to die in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus. The man, who also had underlying health conditions, died on Thursday while being treated at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
On Thursday evening, another patient, reported to be a woman in her 70s, became the first person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with Covid-19, while at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading.
Meanwhile, some health centres in Greater Manchester have scrapped drop-in surgeries.
The measures have been introduced at all GP surgeries in Rochdale, Heywood and Middleton although there are no confirmed cases in the area.
In a statement on Facebook, Rochdale Health Alliance said: “Due to the spread of the coronavirus practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale we are no longer able to offer you face2face appointment with any doctor or nurse unless you share the reason for the appointment. This is to ensure we minimise the risk of spreading the virus in the practice.
“If you have an objection to sharing the reason for your appointment, you can ring the surgery for a telephone appointment to discuss with a doctor.
“We hope to resume back to our normal booking process once the risk of coronavirus exposure passes.”
The RHA added the new measures could ‘put pressure on GP phone lines’ and asked patients to consider booking appointments or making enquiries online.
MORE than 270 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the UK, the Department of Health has said.
A total of 273 people had been diagnosed with the virus health chiefs said yesterday – an increase of 67 from the 206 cases confirmed at 7am on Saturday.
It represented the largest day-on-day increase in diagnoses.
More than 23,500 people have been tested for the virus in the UK, with three patients with Covid-19 having died. The third one, at North Manchester General, was announced late last night.
Two more cases have been confirmed in Scotland, bringing the total there to 18.
On Saturday night, three more people were diagnosed in Northern Ireland pushing its total to seven, while yesterday morning it was announced confirmed cases in Wales had risen from two to four.
The latest figures were published as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a “national effort” is required to tackle the outbreak.
He hailed the “good example” set by a group of people released from hospital quarantine yesterday, who had been repatriated to the UK last month from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. The group of 30 Britons and two Irish nationals are now allowed to leave Arrowe Park hospital in the Wirral, having been given the all-clear from infection.
Mr Hancock said: “Tackling coronavirus is a national effort and they have set a good example for the rest of the public as more people may need to self-isolate themselves at home. Public safety is our top priority and we all have a part to play in containing the spread of the virus.”
Meanwhile in Italy, more than a quarter of population – some 16 million people – has been placed in mandatory quarantine as the Government attempts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
One unnamed man diagnosed with coronavirus in the UK told BBC Radio 4 he was “shocked” and “surprised” at the lack of coronavirus information when he arrived at Manchester Airport after a skiing holiday in northern Italy last weekend.
Immediately self-isolating at home with his wife, he said the experience of being tested was “frightening” but was now feeling “well recovered” as he waited for a further test. “By self-isolating think of all the lives we’ve saved,” he said.
Mr Hancock has set out plans contained in emergency legislation to deal with the impact of the virus. The Bill, which is likely to go through Parliament by the end of the month, is expected to include measures to allow some court proceedings to be conducted via telephone or video.
Volunteers will be given additional employment safeguards, allowing them to leave their main jobs and temporarily help health and social systems in the event of a widespread pandemic.
The chairman of the Royal College of GPs, Professor Martin Marshall, told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that tackling coronavirus will likely lead to hospitals having to cut down on “other work”.