Two porters have died in Oxford hospital from coronavirus as NHS death toll rises to 21

Two ports both married to nurses have died in an Oxford hospital from the coronavirus, bringing the NHS death toll to 21.

It follows Matt Hancock’s earlier announcement that 19 NHS workers had died with Covid-19, the deadly illness caused by the novel Wuhan virus. 

Oxford University Hospitals said in a statement: ‘It is with tremendous sadness that we announce the deaths of two members of staff, both of whom were porters at the John Radcliffe Hospital and both married to members of our nursing teams.

‘Both men were popular and hard-working members of our fantastic team of porters at the John Radcliffe Hospital. They will be sorely missed by their colleagues as well as family and friends in the wider community.

‘Our thoughts are with their wives and families as well as their close colleagues. The families have asked that their privacy be respected at this very sad time. 

‘As colleagues we will be supporting both families as best we can through their loss and we know that they will also be supported by the wonderful Filippino Community here in Oxford in which both families play a significant part. 

‘We are also offering support to all their colleagues and reminding all staff about the services and advice that are available to them.’ 

Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive Officer, and Sir Jonathan Montgomery, Chair of the NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘This tragic loss of our two colleagues touches us all. We are a team and every single member of our team is precious. 

‘None of us can deliver our service to patients alone. We all need each other and we stand together in honouring the memories of our colleagues and together we share in the sadness of their families.’ 

The Health Secretary told BBC Breakfast earlier that 19 ‘members of the NHS family’ had died from the virus which has claimed 9,875 UK lives.

It comes as Britain recorded another 917 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours. 

Mr Hancock said he was particularly struck by the high proportion of people from minority ethnic backgrounds in the NHS who had died. He said ‘the work is going on to establish whether they caught coronavirus in the line of duty while at work or whether… caught it in the rest of their lives.’

The Health Secretary said of those from minority ethnic backgrounds who have died: ‘It is a testament to the fact that people who have come from all over the world have come and given their lives in service to the NHS and paid for that… I think we should recognise their enormous contribution.’

Aintree University Hospital said staff nurse Liz Glanister died on Friday April 3. Nurse Areema Nasreen, 36, died on April 2 in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands – where she had worked for 16 years. 

Nurse Aimee O’Rourke, 39, also died at the hospital she worked at – the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQMH) in Margate, Kent – on Thursday.

Tributes were also paid to nurse Rebecca Mack, 29, who died on Sunday after going into self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms.

Donald Suelto, who worked at Hammersmith Hospital, died after going into self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms, a friend and fellow NHS nurse said.

The Mail on Sunday reported that 27-year-old nurse John Alagos – who treated coronavirus patients at Watford General Hospital – died after a shift on Friday April 3.

Nurse Alice Kit Tak Ong, 70, passed away on Tuesday, her daughter said.

Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex on Sunday announced the death of 54-year-old midwife Lynsay Coventry while Janice Graham, a 58-year-old healthcare support worker in Scotland, died on Monday. 

Healthcare assistant Thomas Harvey, 57, a father of seven who worked at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London, died at home on March 29.

Another healthcare assistant, Glen Corbin, 59, had worked at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health in Harlesden, north-west London, for more than 25 years.

Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, a GP in Leigh-on-Sea, died at Southend Hospital on March 25. 

Amged El-Hawrani, an ear, nose and throat consultant with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB), died at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on March 28. Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, who had returned to work from retirement, died on Monday at the Whittington Hospital in north London.

Transplant surgeon Adil El Tayar, 63, died at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, west London, on March 25.

Professor Sami Shousha, 79, who had worked at UK cancer research laboratories at London’s Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals since 1978, died on April 2.

Consultant geriatrician Anton Sebastianpillai, who had a long association with Kingston Hospital in south-west London, died on Saturday April 4.

Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, who wrote a Facebook post asking Boris Johnson to urgently provide every NHS worker with PPE, died on Wednesday night.

Dr Edmond Adedeji, 62, who worked as a locum registrar in the emergency department of Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire, died on April 8.

Jitendra Rathod, an associate specialist in cardio-thoracic surgery at the University Hospital of Wales, died on Monday morning. GP Fayez Ayache, 76, was taken by ambulance to Ipswich Hospital on April 2 and died six days later.

GP Dr Syed Haider, who worked in Dagenham east London, died in hospital on Monday after it is believed he developed coronavirus symptoms.

Patient discharge planner Barbara Moore, 54, died on Monday, the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

The GMB union’s national secretary for public services Rehana Azam said: ‘Now this dark truth has been dragged out, we also need to know the number of other frontline workers, including in our care homes, who have died in the call of duty.’

‘This is beyond heartbreaking. Each of these frontline workers’ sacrifice to our NHS family must never be forgotten.’

Today’s death tally is a drop from yesterday’s 980, which remains the highest recorded in a single day so far – surpassing Italy and Spain’s worst days. 

But it does put Britain on course to hit the grim 10,000-death milestone on Easter Sunday, which the country will spend in lockdown.

The total cases also today jumped by 5,233 to 78,991 after an additional 18,091 tests were performed, down 1,025 from Friday.

NHS England reported 823 patients had died in their hospitals today – the youngest was 11 and the eldest was 102, both with underlying health problems. 

Scotland today confirmed a further 47 deaths, bringing the nation’s total fatalities to 542, while Northern Ireland’s tally hit 107 after an additional 15 deaths.

It comes as police warn the public to stay indoors this Easter Bank Holiday weekend, but were forced to have words with some flouting social distancing rules.  

The police have been warned not to abuse their new beefed-up powers by Priti Patel, who has confirmed today’s latest figures at the No10 press briefing.

On another grim day in Britain’s coronavirus pandemic: 

• A row erupted between Health Secretary Matt Hancock and a top nurse over his claims that medics were overusing personal protective equipment; 
• Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer led the backlash over the Health Secretary’s claim that NHS staff were ‘wasting’ PPE;  
• Downing Street said the Prime Minister was making extremely good progress with his recovery from coronavirus; 
• Former Home Secretary David Blunkett blasted ‘Sermon on the Mount’ coronavirus briefings by ministers and accusesd officials of ‘hectoring’ people; 
• Scientists said coronavirus can spread 13ft – twice the social distancing gap – and that isolating infected people at home is not a good strategy.