Sheffield Children's Hospital issues statement after child with coronavirus dies

A statement from Sheffield Children’s Hospital said: “Sadly on Monday 15 June, a child passed away at Sheffield Children’s having been brought in to the hospital in a critical condition. Attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful.

“The cause of death is not yet known. Tests have confirmed that the child had COVID-19, but it isn’t yet clear if it was a contributing factor.”

John Somers, Chief Executive of Sheffield Children's said "Our sincere condolences go to the family and we ask the media to respect their privacy at this difficult time."

This comes as the death of a 13-day-old child with coronavirus was confirmed by NHS England today (June 18).

Sheffield Children’s Hospital would not confirm that 13-day-old child was the child that died in their care.

The baby is believed to be the youngest victim of the disease in the UK, and their death was announced in Thursday's coronavirus death toll in English hospitals.

Children seem to be much less likely to suffer the most severe effects of the disease, but 19 people under the age of 19 have died from the virus in hospitals in England.

In May, a six-week-old child with underlying health conditions died.

Previously, the youngest victim with no pre-existing health problems was thought to be Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who died in March aged just 13.

Doctors have also been alarmed at a spike in cases of an illness resembling Kawasaki disease.

Symptoms include a sudden high temperature, rash, swollen hands and feet, dry and cracked lips and tongue and red, sore eyes.

A study led by Imperial College London and published earlier this month revealed the condition to be distinct from Kawasaki disease.

The researchers said they could not be certain the new illness is caused by Covid-19, but said 45 of the 58 children involved in the study had

evidence of current or past coronavirus infection.

They added that the emergence of a new condition during a pandemic is "unlikely to be a coincidence".