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A pregnant nurse died after hiring Covid-19, as the Health Secretary said close relatives will be able to say goodbye to loved ones who are dying of coronavirus.
Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, 28, who worked as a nurse in a general ward at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital for five years, died Sunday.
The baby, a girl, was successfully delivered and is doing well, the hospital said.
It is unclear if she has tested positive for the disease.
The news emerged when Matt Hancock announced a package of measures aimed at fighting the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes following wide criticism of the government’s response to the growing crisis.
Those who run nursing homes have accused the government of forgetting staff and the elderly, citing inadequate stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) along with a lack of evidence.
Hancock said that “whenever possible” people will have a “chance to say goodbye” to loved ones who die with Covid-19, after reports that the elderly died alone in residences and in some hospitals that prohibit all visitors.
He said that “wanting to be with someone you love at the end of his life is one of the deepest human instincts,” and that as a father himself he wept at reports from Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, 13, of Brixton, South London. . , dying without a father by his side.
“I am pleased to say that by working with Public Health England, the healthcare industry and many others, we are introducing new procedures so that we can limit the risk of infection and, whenever possible, give our closest loved ones the opportunity to say goodbye”. He said.
Hancock said a “unprecedented scale” supply network would also help PPE care for household staff.
And he announced a new “unique brand” with a badge for care workers, which he says can help them access similar benefits for NHS staff.
“This badge will be a badge of honor in a very real sense, allowing social care staff to proudly and publicly identify themselves, just as NHS staff do with that famous blue and white logo,” he said.
But Rehana Azam, national officer for the GMB union, said: “Our care workers need more than a badge and a pat on the head to define their precious role in society.
“They need the protective equipment and evidence on the front line now to protect their lives.”
A spokesperson for MHA, one of the largest charitable providers of care homes, said: “There is nothing to stop family members from saying goodbye in care homes now that they have enough PPE. So this goes back to the problem that there is not enough PPE for staff, regardless of families. “
During the daily press conference, Mr. Hancock said that the Government was making it “clear as water” that it was unacceptable that advanced care plans, including not resuscitating orders, be applied generally to any group of people.
“This should always be a personalized process, as it always has been,” he said.
The cabinet minister denied suggestions that the lives of younger people had been prioritized at the expense of those in nursing homes and that people had died unnecessarily.
However, England’s Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser Dame Angela McLean said there was a “big question” about how to protect care homes that have no cases yet.
In another indication that the blockade measures would be extended Thursday, Hancock told reporters that “hard work” and public sacrifice should not be put aside now.
“This shared sacrifice, and I know it is a sacrifice, is beginning to work, but we will not lift these measures until it is safe to do so,” he said.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the death toll could rise later this week, but he believes the UK is “likely” to be at the peak of the outbreak.
When asked why the government has not spoken out in explaining its exit strategy, unlike other countries, Hancock said: “Different countries are at different stages in this epidemic, and one of the things that I think we have learned during This crisis is that the clarity of the orientation to the public is incredibly important and, therefore, we repeat it. “
Challenged by the lost daily test target of 25,000, Mr. Hancock said the Government had “achieved each of the goals we have set.”
He claimed that a target of 25,000 tests per day was originally set for the end of April, although the Health Department had initially said that it should be submitted within four weeks of March 18.
Mr. Hancock said: “We committed to 10,000 tests by the end of March, which we reached, then we had already committed to 25,000 at the end of April. I increased that goal to 100,000.
“We have reached each of the objectives that we have set for ourselves in the tests and we have had the ability to continue increasing this month, the demand has been less during the Easter weekend since the staff did not want to appear at the tests, which is understandable over a long weekend. “
In other developments, Downing Street admitted that PPE may have to be reused if it is established that it is safe to do so.
Comments collected by the British Medical Association (BMA) and shared with the AP news agency show how, as recently as Monday, doctors were still forced to work without proper PPE, with some turning to bags of trash and washed their visors with disinfectant.
The latest figures show that 12,868 patients died in the hospital after testing positive for a coronavirus in the UK as of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, an increase of 761 from 12,107 the day before.
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