Nurse who held the hands of dying patients dies alone

A NURSE who held the hands of dying patients in their final moments has died from coronavirus, without her family being allowed to hold hers.

Last Sunday, Barbara Sage, 68, became the first Marie Curie worker to die from the virus, before the rules around visits by relatives changed.

The mother of two would spend hours with people at the end of their lives during her 14 years spent working in Bromley, south London.

Her daughter, Donna, said: “Mum always said her job wasn’t about getting paid, it was about being there for people when they need it.”

Matthew Reed, the chief executive of Marie Curie, described her death as a “devastating loss”.

More NHS staff have been reported as dying after contracting Covid-19.

Gladys Mujajati, a 46-year-old mental health nurse from Derby, was described as a “fantastic nurse, colleague and friend” by Ifti Majid, her NHS trust chief executive. Amanda Solloway, the MP for Derby North, said Ms Mujajati’s death was “absolutely heartbreaking”.

Jane Murphy, 73, who worked at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for almost 30 years, first as a cleaner, then as a clinical support worker, will be “greatly missed”, said Neil Murray, a colleague.

Last night, it emerged a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire was among the dead. Virgilio ‘Larry’ Castro, 63, who escaped from his 17th floor flat on the night of the 2017 blaze lost his life on April 9, The Guardian reported.

In Suffolk, Florence Fisher died five days before her 100th birthday,

In Wales, 28-year-old Becca Evans, whose house was destroyed by floodwater during Storm Dennis in February, died in hospital.

Roy Stephens, a former chief of Selfridges, died aged 85, after contracting the virus.