Testing ‘fiasco’ and UK’s youngest virus death

As the number of coronavirus deaths mounts up, the papers tell us about some of the individuals, old and young, behind the statistics.

Several front pages highlight the case of the boy believed to have been the youngest patient to die in the UK after catching Covid-19, Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, who was 13 and had no known health problems.

The Guardian quotes a family friend who says the boy’s mother and his six siblings are now waiting for the results of a post-mortem. They couldn’t be with him when he died because of the danger of infection.

The Times carries news of the death of Harold Pearsall from Tamworth in Staffordshire, who was 97 and a D-Day veteran.

He’d been awarded France’s highest military honour, the Légion d’Honneur, for taking part in the Allied assault on the beaches of Normandy.

Also reported in The Times is the death of Thomas Harvey, an NHS worker who was 57 and had seven children. He apparently picked up the virus while treating a patient at a hospital in Ilford in Essex. 

The Daily Mirror highlights one happy outcome. Helen Gents, a grandmother aged 92, has recovered from Covid-19 after being taken to hospital last week.

Her granddaughter says the former shop worker is “made of strong stuff”.

The need for tests to show whether NHS staff have coronavirus is the main front-page story in the Financial Times and the Daily Mail, whose headline demands “Fix testing fiasco now”.  

The Mail says the lack of testing kits is “shocking” and it calls for the government to appoint a dedicated minister for testing to try to crack the problem.

The Times says Boris Johnson himself has taken charge of efforts to source chemicals needed for the tests. The Sun says mass community testing is vital to return Britain to normality.

The Times reveals that just five weeks ago the coronavirus was judged by the government’s scientific advisers to pose only a “moderate risk” to Britain. 

Scientists on a Public Health England committee, including the pandemic modeller, Neil Ferguson, discussed Covid-19 when they met on 21 February. 

Recently released minutes show that members of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group – or Nervtag –  were given the latest global data on the outbreak,. showing more than 75,000 confirmed cases of the virus in China and more than 2,200 fatalities.

The Times says the disclosure raises questions about the speed of the response.

The Guardian carries a warning that the coronavirus is pushing Britain’s care homes towards breaking point. One charity says there are cases – or suspected cases – at half its 220 homes and that one in 10 staff is off sick or self-isolating.

The Sun pays tribute to those it calls the “Army heroes on the NHS front line”, with a front-page picture of soldiers helping to set up the new Nightingale Hospital in east London. 

The Mirror says the military’s response to the crisis has been “magnificent” and we should be proud.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the columnist, Allison Pearson, says the armed forces have reminded us why they’re one of our greatest national assets. She says “soldiers, we salute you!”