Mayor’s sorrow as virus claims his brother’s life
LIVERPOOL Mayor Joe Anderson yesterday revealed his eldest brother Bill died in hospital with coronavirus on Friday night.
Politicians, celebrities and members of the public rallied round the 62-year-old mayor, who only five weeks ago lost another brother, Henry, to cancer.
Announcing his brother’s death, Mr Anderson tweeted: ‘Despite the efforts of all the staff at Liverpool Hospital ICU, my brother sadly died at 10.45 last night. We want to thank the dedicated staff risking their lives for us. Thank you all for your messages of love and support.
‘Let’s stick together and support each other and win this battle.’
Since the new Covid alert system was introduced last Wednesday, the Liverpool City Region – which covers six local authorities – has been in Tier 3, which has the strictest rules, following a surge in cases in Merseyside.
Mr Anderson urged people to ‘follow the rules’, which include the closure of pubs not serving meals, as well as gyms and betting shops.
Liverpool has one of the highest Covid-19 rates in Britain, with 3,204 patients recorded on Tuesday, slightly more than the 3,191 cases registered a week before.
Earlier this week, Mr Anderson criticised crowds that gathered in parts of the city centre on Tuesday night, just before Tier 3 restrictions were introduced, saying the images ‘shame our city’ and ‘our health service is creaking’.