An 80-year-old woman is the first person in the UK to die after contracting coronavirus in hospital, our colleague, Matthew Weaver, reports.
Marita Edwards, a retired cleaner and keen golfer, went to Newport’s Royal Gwent hospital for a routine gallbladder operation on 28 February.
The otherwise fit 80-year-old then caught an infection in hospital that she and her family were initially told was pneumonia. Last Thursday, almost three weeks after arriving at the hospital, she tested positive for Covid-19 and died the following day.
“If she had not been in hospital she would be still be alive,” said her son, Stuart Loud. “Clearly there was a coronavirus infection in the hospital which claimed my mum’s life.”