Son of man who died after contracting coronavirus say family never got to say goodbye

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The patient was treated at North Manchester General Hospital but died five days later
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Ellena Cruse11 March 2020

The family of a man who died from coronavirus in Manchester have said they never got to say goodbye.

The infected 60-year-old man had just come back from a trip to Italy and was the third person in the UK to die after being diagnosed with Covid-19.

After visiting his GP with symptoms, he was put in isolation in North Manchester General Hospital, but died five days later.

As of March 10, six people have died in the UK, 25,888 have tested negative for the strain and 382 people have tested positive including health minister Nadine Dorries .

The rest of the victim's family have been told to go into self-isolation
PA

The son of the Manchester victim, who does not want to be named, said his family have been unable to schedule a funeral as they have all been told to self-isolate.

"When they broke the news to me that he passed away - obviously I could not believe it," he told the BBC.

“We all burst into tears."

Health minister Nadine Dorries, who has become the first MP to be diagnosed with coronavirus
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"I can't express how it feels to know that I won't be able to see him again," he added.

"Two months ago, this thing didn't even exist and now it took away my father."

The victim, who had been on a fortnight’s holiday in Italy where the family used to live, came back to the UK at the end of February for a GP appointment.

Italy: Coronavirus - In pictures

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He suffered from a range of health problems including, arthritis, heart problems, cholesterol, liver issues and shortness of breath.

When the 60-year-old, originally from Bangladesh, turned up for his check-up in a facemask, his son said “panic broke out”.

His dad was immediately put into isolation with the rest of his family told to go into quarantine.

His son said: “We regularly called the ward and we asked daily how he was. They did not allow me to speak to him directly.”

Public Health England has sent daily texts to the family to check on their condition but none of they have shown any symptoms, the son added.

Globally there have been 4,300 deaths since coronavirus emerged in Wuhan, China at the end of 2019.

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