A “healthy” 13-year-old Muslim schoolboy who tested positive for coronavirus has died, a London hospital trust has said.
Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, from Brixton in south London, died in King’s College Hospital on Monday morning.
He is the youngest person to have died with from COVID-19 in the UK.
A spokesman for the trust said the boy’s death had been referred to the coroner, but gave no further details.
As of Tuesday 31 March 5pm, the number of deaths in the UK was 2,352, a daily increase of 563, which is the biggest recorded rise to date.
Ismail’s family said they were “beyond devastated” by his death, in a statement released by a family friend.
They said he had no underlying health conditions and tested positive for coronavirus on Friday 27 March, a day after he was admitted to hospital.
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It is rare for teenagers to become seriously ill after being infected with coronavirus.
Ismail’s family said he was admitted to the hospital in south London after he showed symptoms of the virus and had difficulties breathing.
They said: “He was put on a ventilator and then put into an induced coma but sadly died yesterday [Monday] morning.
“To our knowledge he had no underlying health conditions. We are beyond devastated.”
Mark Stephenson, college director at Madinah College, in south-west London, where Ismail’s sister works as a teacher, has set up a fundraising page to raise money for the funeral costs.
A statement on the fundraising page said Ismail died “without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of COVID-19”.
