A British man who died after contracting the coronavirus "fell ill instantly" after returning from a holiday in Italy, his son has said.
The 60-year-old man died at North Manchester General Hospital on Sunday after returning to the UK from a trip at the end of February, his son told BBC Bangla.
He said his dad, a British national originally from Bangladesh, had fallen ill "instantly" and was taken to hospital after going to a local health centre for a routine appointment.
The son says the rest of his family have been told to self-isolate – with Public Health England sending them daily texts asking if they are showing symptoms.
The son, who was not named, said he rang the hospital regularly for updates on his father, who had arthritis and heart problems, and then received a phone call saying he had died.
-
Coronavirus: Priest who shook hands with hundreds of worshippers diagnosed with disease
-
Coronavirus: Iranians killed by bootleg booze after downing methanol to fight disease
"Since we cannot go outside we regularly called the ward where he was ill," the man's son told BBC Bengali.
"And on a daily basis and we asked them how he was. They did not allow me to speak to him directly.
"The first couple of days he was fairly stable but after that they were saying his blood was not oxygenated enough. Also his heartbeat was not stable either."
He added: "Obviously I could not believe it because two months ago this thing didn't even exist and today it took away my father.
Read More
Today's Top Stories
-
Meghan and Harry's new plans unveiled -
Fresh coronavirus warning to smokers -
Aldi shoppers leave OAP close to tears -
Kidnapped girl found inside sofa bed
"It took me quite a long time to process the whole thing that I'm not going to be able to see him any more."
The patient, from Greater Manchester, was the third person to die in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus.
A spokesman for the 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 60s 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."
Six people have died in the UK from the virus as the number of confirmed cases rises to 373.
Source: Read Full Article