At the weekend, Areema Nasreen, a nurse at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands was admitted to intensive care after contracting coronavirus.
It was reported that the NHS nurse has no underlying health conditions and does not fall into the ‘at risk’ bracket.
Speaking to Sky News, Areema’s sister said she could have contracted the virus “virtually anywhere.”
As of this morning, the youngest fatality from the virus was reported.
Sky News has reported that an 18-year-old has died from COVID-19 and becomes the youngest person in the UK to do so.
The death toll from the virus in the UK has now risen to 257 as of yesterday.
The oldest patient so far to die from the virus was 102 years old.
The virus has predominantly claimed the lives of patients between 60-years-old and upwards.
As of writing, the number of confirmed cases has reached 5,683.
As reported by the BBC, the deaths of those under the ‘at risk’ age bracket are ‘unusual’ cases.
Italian doctors have also recently warned the public that “COVID-19 can make young people seriously ill.”
The head of the WHO said young people “are not invincible” and may end up hospital bound “for weeks” if they contract the virus.
Dr Antonio Pesenti, head of Lombardy’s intensive crisis care unit, talking to Sky News said:
“50% of our patients in the intensive care unit, which are the most severe patients, are over 65 years old.”
“But that means that the other 50% of our patients are younger than 65.”
Recent events have shed light on the level of vulnerability young people may face from COVID-19.
Although, as reported by Live Science, the number of fatalities in Italy as of March 4th all occurred in patients over the age of 60.
This insinuates that those younger than this age, may spend time in intensive care but recover from the virus.
The numbers and statistics should not be a conclusion of the toll of the virus however, as the 18-year-old case proves, young people are still vulnerable to the virus.
Particularly those with underlying health conditions.
