On Monday, 13-year-old Libyan, Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, died of COVID-19 at King’s College Hospital in London.
Ismail is thought to be the youngest person to have died due to the virus in the UK. He was admitted to the hospital four days previously, after suffering breathing difficulties.
Ismail’s family said they were “beyond devastated” at his death after he was put into a medically induced coma due to the severity of his condition, after testing positive for COVID-19. Ismail is believed to have no underlying health conditions and tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, a day after he was admitted to hospital.
“Just 0.3% of those who show symptoms require hospital care and 0.006% die – in other words, two out of every 30,000 infections among this age group will not survive,” the hospital said in a statement. King’s College Hospital expressed its condolences to the victim’s family for their loss. On Tuesday, officials in Belgium confirmed the death of a 12-year-old girl, after testing positive for COVID-19, making her Europe’s youngest known victim.