Woman describes shock after parents die of coronavirus in Belfast

A woman has spoken of her shock and grief after her parents died of coronavirus at the weekend, as the death toll rose amid possible signs on Monday that the rate was slowing.

Christopher Vallely, 79, died on Sunday in the Mater hospital in Belfast, hours after his wife, Isobel, 77, died in the same hospital room. They had just marked their 53rd wedding anniversary.

News of the couple’s deaths came as the NHS announced that a further 180 people had died from the virus, taking the UK’s death toll to 1,408. It was the lowest daily rise in coronavirus deaths since last Thursday and the second day in a row that the increase had been lower than the previous day.

Prof Neil Ferguson, a leading epidemiologist advising the government, said there were some signs the spread of the virus was slowing. He said: “In the UK, we can see some early signs of slowing in some indicators. Less so in deaths, because deaths are lagged by long time from when the measures come into force.

“But we look at the numbers of new hospital admissions today, for instance, that does seem to be slowing down a little bit now. It’s not yet plateaued as the numbers are increasing each day but the rate of that increase has slowed. We see similar patterns in a number of European countries.”

The Vallelys, who lived near the Falls Road in west Belfast, had three children and had been married for 53 years on Friday.

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Christopher, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, was admitted to hospital and placed in isolation 10 days ago after showing symptoms. Isobel, who had a stroke last year, was admitted on Thursday and died on Saturday night.

Christopher was moved to the room she had occupied after his condition worsened. He died 12 hours after his wife. Both had tested positive for Covid-19.

Speaking to the Irish News, their daughter Fiona Vallely said: “Both had underlying heath issues, but it’s a shock to lose both your parents. They would have done anything for anybody. They were fantastic people and they did not deserve to go this way.”

Meanwhile, 17 members of a family from the West Midlands have either contracted the virus or are showing symptoms of it, including one who died after attending a family funeral this month.

Susan Nelson, 65, died of suspected coronavirus last week after attending her aunt’s funeral on 13 March. Nelson’s daughter Amanda said: “Our beautiful, caring mum was the centre of the family – we are a very close, large family and this has destroyed us.”

Symptoms are defined by the NHS as either:

• a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

• a new continuous cough - this means you've started coughing repeatedly

NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days.

If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

After 14 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine. But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for 7 days from the day their symptoms start. Even if it means they're at home for longer than 14 days.

If you live with someone who is 70 or over, has a long-term condition, is pregnant or has a weakened immune system, try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days.

If you have to stay at home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible.

After 7 days, if you no longer have a high temperature you can return to your normal routine.

If you still have a high temperature, stay at home until your temperature returns to normal.

If you still have a cough after 7 days, but your temperature is normal, you do not need to continue staying at home. A cough can last for several weeks after the infection has gone.

Staying at home means you should:

• not go to work, school or public areas

• not use public transport or taxis

• not have visitors, such as friends and family, in your home

• not go out to buy food or collect medicine – order them by phone or online, or ask someone else to drop them off at your home

You can use your garden, if you have one. You can also leave the house to exercise – but stay at least 2 metres away from other people.

If you have symptoms of coronavirus, use the NHS 111 coronavirus service to find out what to do.

Source: NHS England on 23 March 2020

Amanda, a 34-year-old business support manger for the NHS, tested positive for the virus last Sunday. She said she was worried that at least one other family member was about to succumb to the disease.

“We now have someone else in our family in hospital that’s probably not going to survive it,” she said.

She wrote on Facebook: “My family is suffering so much thanks to this bloody virus, and it breaks my heart to speak to them on the phone and hear how unwell they all are.”

She said the 16 surviving members who had either tested positive or were showing symptoms ranged in age from 21 to 88.

Other recent deaths from coronavirus include Frank Hammond, an 83-year-old from Stockport, a keen hill walker who sold camera equipment before he retired. His daughter, Trisha Conroy, said he was a “lovely, funny man who always wanted to make people laugh”.

He died in Stepping Hill hospital, Stockport, on Thursday. He had tested positive for Covid-19 despite not having a cough and having only a slightly raised temperature.

Speaking of the diverse symptoms experienced by people with Covid-19, Ferguson said “maybe a third, maybe 40%” of people did not get any symptoms but there was no evidence to support claims that the vast majority of people were asymptomatic.

He said it appeared that 3-5% of people in central London could have been infected, but the figure may be higher in hot spots, while the figure for the country at large was more likely to be 2-3%.