A man in his sixties has become the third patient to die after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK.
The man, who had underlying health problems, died at North Manchester General Hospital having recently returned from Italy.
A spokesman for North Manchester General Hospital said: “We can confirm that sadly a patient being treated for Covid-19 has died at our specialist regional Infectious Diseases unit at North Manchester General Hospital.
“The man in his sixties tested positive after travelling to Italy and had a number of underlying health problems. Our thoughts are with the patient’s family who are being supported by our specialist bereavement staff.”
He added:
North Manchester General Hospital remains open and all services and appointments are running normally. Patients with appointments and those visiting relatives at the hospital should attend as normal. This includes our Infectious Diseases Unit and associated services.
There is no risk to staff, other patients, relatives and visitors as we have robust measures in place to deal with patients treated on our Infectious Diseases Unit.
Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England said: “I am very sorry to report that a third patient in England who tested positive for COVID-19 has sadly died. I offer my sincere condolences to their family and friends and ask that their privacy is respected.
“The patient, who was being treated at the North Manchester General Hospital, was over 60 years old and had significant underlying health conditions. They had recently travelled from an affected area. Contact tracing is already underway.”
