Coronavirus UK: Man, 47, died after refusing to call ambulance

A ‘fit and healthy’ banker from Wales has died at his home while in self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms – after refusing to call an ambulance because they would be ‘too busy dealing with other people’.

Britain has now seen more than 9,500 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 465 dead. 

Mr Galley, 47, decided not to go into work on Monday and started to develop a fever, heartbroken Ms Cuthbert, 46, told North Wales Live.

She had been unable to see him because he decided to remain on his own, but Ms Cuthbert said messages from him grew less frequent.

Mr Galley’s body had to be taken away from his Wrexham flat by paramedics in protective clothing on Tuesday.

Ms Cuthbert said: ‘Of course I was very worried about when he developed the fever, as I was worried about the coronavirus.

‘But as he wanted to protect me I couldn’t go and visit him,’ she said.

The mother from Old Colwyn, north Wales, added: ‘As he was getting steadily worse I asked him to phone for an ambulance but he kept on saying to me that he was fine, that he had no underlying health conditions and that they would be too busy dealing with other people.’

Mr Galley’s death is revealed today as: 

• One of the government’s top coronavirus advisers, Professor Neil Ferguson, said the UK’s epidemic will get worse before it gets better but the peak of it could pass by Easter;
• Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to finally unveil a coronavirus bailout for millions of stricken self-employed workers – with signs they could get cash payments of up to £1,700 a month;
• Mother-of-three Kayla Williams is revealed to have died in her flat after calling 999 and being told she was not a priority despite displaying symptoms of coronavirus;
• Dyson has been handed an order of 10,000 ventilators from the Government to save the lives of Britons floored by coronavirus despite the engineering giant never making them before;
• The Government has admitted it has no idea if the 3.5million antibody tests it has ordered work – despite a senior official saying they would available in Boots or on Amazon within days
• Military personnel arrived at the ExCel London which is going be turned it to the Nightingale Hospital to help in the fight against Covid-19

On Monday night Ms Cuthbert messaged her partner of four years, worrying that she wasn’t going to see him for a couple of weeks because they would both have to self-isolate.

His reply was: ‘Don’t be silly, or course you will.’

The coronavirus pandemic is taking its toll on the country – which is now on lockdown as more and more Britons are infected and, tragically, die with the virus.

Kayla Williams, 36, died of suspected Covid-19 at her apartment in Peckham.

Her life was cut short on Saturday, when paramedics came to her south London address.

Husband Fabian Willams told the Guardian his wife was suffering a cough, high fever and severe chest and stomach pains on Friday.

Documents say she was being treated as a suspected coronavirus case when she was told to stay at home.

Chloe Middleton, a 21-year-old woman with no pre-existing medical conditions, died from the coronavirus, her family has said.

She is thought to be the youngest victim in the UK to have no underlying medical conditions.

Her mother Diane Middleton posted a heartbreaking tribute to her daughter today on social media.

Writing on Facebook Mrs Middleton, who lives in Buckinghamshire said: ‘To all the people out there that thinks it’s just a virus please think again speaking from a personal experience this so called virus has taken the life of my 21 year old daughter.’

Just days ago it was announced that an 18-year-old man had also died from the virus.

Mr Galley, who worked at the M&S Bank, didn’t return any of Ms Cuthbert’s calls after that.

She added: ‘On Tuesday morning I was panicking as Tim didn’t return my calls. I asked his neighbour to check on him as they had a key. They found him in bed.

‘Paramedics in protective clothing came, and I just can’t bare the thought he was all alone.’

Ms Cuthbert, who runs a wedding business, added Mr Galley was ‘adored by her children’.

‘He just had such a massive heart and we had such a wonderful life together.

‘We were supposed to be attending my daughter Danielle’s wedding but that has also been cancelled because of the coronavirus.

‘We went on so many holidays and had so many things planned. He was my future.’

She added: ‘Tim gave me so much love happiness and amazing times.

‘He was so very special to my daughter Danni, and my other children and was ”pops” to Olivia and Ariyah and won’t get to meet Ryan and Maxine’s baby.’

Ms Cuthbert said she hoped people would take coronavirus advice from the government and health professionals seriously.

She said: ‘Please, please will you all take the advice and stay indoors and follow the rules this virus is serious and taking our loved ones.

‘I just want everyone to stay safe and stay home.

‘Tim took all the precautions but still this virus got him, my heart is shattered into tiny pieces.’

Is it working? UK records 43 coronavirus deaths in past 24 hours compared to 87 yesterday… and new infections level out

• Footage shows police dispersing members of the public intent on flouting the government’s lockdown rules
• Police dispersed members of the public soaking up the sun in Shepherd’s Bush in West London  
• Groups of people were  pictured enjoying the good weather in part of Cheltenham on Wednesday 
• On Monday,  Boris Johnson addressed the nation and ordered a lockdown for at least three weeks
• Shoppers have also  been pictured continuing to squeeze together at supermarkets across the country
• The Prince of Wales has tested positive and is in self-isolation at his home on the Balmoral estate, Scotland  

By Chantelle Edmunds and Joe Middleton for MailOnline 

The UK has recorded 43 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours compared to 87 on Tuesday, but new infections have increased by a record 1,452 to 9,529 as Britons continued to flout the lockdown.

Twenty-eight more patients died in England, six more patients died in Scotland, five in Wales and four in Northern Ireland – bringing the total death toll to 465 in Britain.

They included a 47-year-old who did not have an underlying health condition. The others who died, including one person aged 93, did have underlying health conditions. 

In contrast, eighty-seven infected Brits died the day before. Despite the death rate falling by half, the country saw a record spike in cases on Wednesday, with 1,452 more patients known to have caught the deadly virus, bringing the total number of cases to 9,529.

The Department of Health and Social Care late on Wednesday evening confirmed a total of 97,019 people have been tested with found 87,490 negative. The update said that 463 people had been killed by the virus, but it added that the data did not cover a 24 hour period.

The update for the previous death toll on Tuesday was at 1pm, so the data only covers from then until 9am Wednesday, which would explain some if not all of the difference in the death rate.

Scotland only announced two deaths on Tuesday, while Wales confirmed just one. Both countries have now had 22 coronavirus victims.

Northern Ireland this afternoon announced two more fatalities as well as two last night, taking their total to seven deaths. 

The true size of the outbreak is unclear because only patients in hospital are routinely tested. The true size of the outbreak is likely to be closer to the 400,000 mark, experts have said.

Despite clear government guidance, members of the public are continuing to the rules by heading out to sunbathe on the second day of the coronavirus lockdown.

Footage has emerged showing police dispersing Britons gathering in parks and other public places, with people gathering despite strict advice to stay at home yo avoid the outbreak overwhelming the NHS.

In Shepherd’s Bush in West London, people soaked up the sun, seemingly oblivious to the tight restrictions imposed by the government on Monday. Police were seen telling the sun worshipers to leave and go home.

Others were seen enjoying the weather at Battersea Park in South West London, on the beach in Portsmouth and in the sea off Eastbourne today despite the Prime Minister urging people to stay at home. 

Meanwhile in Manchester, officers today dispersed groups, some of which greeted each other with a hug, along with sunbathers in Piccadilly Gardens. Police also used megaphones to tell people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, saying ‘this is serious, we need to beat corona.’   

Professor James Naismith, director of the Rosalind Franklin Institute, University of Oxford, said: ‘Every one of the deaths is, for the families and friends, a tragedy. That the number of deaths is less than yesterday is a relief.

‘However, just as the headlines of death toll ‘worse than Italy’ were misguided and based on over-interpretation of a single day, a lower number today on its own is not a reliable guide. The Government’s measures will take time both to have their effect and to be confirmed as working.

‘I would urge people neither to panic nor celebrate on the basis of the numbers on any single day, rather we all need to focus on social distancing and kindness. We have the best epidemiologists in the world, only their complex mathematical analysis of the data can tell us what is happening.

‘No-one has ever claimed that the virus would leave apparently healthy younger people completely untouched, the sad death of the 47-year-old confirms what the Chinese data had told us – no-one is entirely safe. We must all follow the Government advice on social distancing, not just for the benefit of the vulnerable but for all our sakes.’

Earlier, Boris Johnson said the Government was ‘massively ramping up’ testing for coronavirus, as he announced that 405,000 people have now signed up as volunteers to help vulnerable people.

He said it was hoped that ‘very soon’ 250,000 tests would be carried out each day.

Speaking at the daily press conference inside Number 10, he added that he wanted to offer a ‘special thank you to everyone who has now volunteered to help the NHS.

‘When we launched the appeal last night, we hoped to get 250,000 volunteers over a few days.

‘But I can tell you that in just 24 hours, 405,000 people have responded to the call.

‘That is already, in one day, as many volunteers as the population of Coventry.’

The figure was given as the Foreign Office announced that Steven Dick, 37, the deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Budapest, had died after contracting coronavirus. 

It comes after an expert government adviser said NHS hospitals are expected to just about cope with the thousands of coronavirus patients, even at the peak of the outbreak, according to an expert government adviser.

Despite fears over a lack of intensive care beds and staff going off sick, Professor Neil Ferguson, from Imperial College London, yesterday told MPs that he is confident the health service will remain ‘within capacity’.

That is because of the current lockdown, which could also mean the worst of the outbreak in intensive care units is likely to be over in two-and-a-half to three weeks’ time. 

Deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries agreed yesterday that the peak of the virus could be finished by Easter. 

Earlier this month Professor Ferguson, a key member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), produced a report suggesting more than 20,000 people might die from coronavirus.

But yesterday he told the Commons science and technology committee the death toll could be ‘substantially lower than that’.

In even more hopeful news, Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and immunity at the University of Oxford, who was also called before the committee, said a vaccine could potentially be available within six months.

It came after Prince Charles today revealed he has tested positive for the deadly disease.

The Prince of Wales, 71, has a ‘mild’ form of the illness and is on the Balmoral estate with his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who has tested negative and is without any symptoms of the virus, which has killed 435 and infected 8,200 more in the UK so far. 

The Queen and Philip had already travelled to Windsor Castle before the announcement from Clarence House today, after moving to the royal estate last Thursday. 

A royal source said Charles’ doctor’s most conservative estimate was that the prince was contagious on March 13 – 24 hours after ‘briefly’ meeting his 93-year-old mother the Queen. 

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘Her Majesty remains in good health. The Queen is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare’. 

It is not known if the monarch has been tested for coronavirus but she is said to be on lockdown and not even close family members can see her.  

Last week, the Government announced an unprecedented plan to underwrite the wages of millions of workers who face being laid off as activity dries up – but it has been criticised for doing nothing for the country’s five million freelancers, contractors and other self-employed workers. 

On Monday the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson addressed the nation and told Britain’s 66million people they must stay at home unless they are front-line workers, need to shop infrequently to buy food or medicine or are helping a vulnerable person. 

He also said one form of exercise was permitted each day, such as dog-walking – but not sunbathing or merely sitting outside. 

Mr Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they did not ‘stay at home’.

The Prime Minister’s shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK’s new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history. 

Gatherings of more than two people are banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease.

The footage showing brazen sunbathers comes as families who have lost loved ones after testing positive for coronavirus have appealed on social media for people to stay inside as the outbreak tightens its grip across the UK.

Twitter user, @mollyacejay, paid tribute to her grandmother on Tuesday and urged members of the public to stay indoors.    

‘please please please stay indoors. I will forever be grateful for the love my grandma had for all of us, for the kindness she showed. we sadly lost her to covid19 earlier today. please stay inside,’ she wrote. 

Underneath her Tweet @mollyacejay retweeted a message her grandmother had sent her earlier in the year.

‘my grandma crocheted a pride blanket for me after I finally spoke to her about being gay at christmas. lucky, blessed, loved.’ 

The UK’s coronavirus death toll stood at 437 on Wednesday with more than 8,200 cases.   

Mark Foran took to Twitter to pay tribute to his dad who was one of those who died yesterday. 

‘After suffering a brain hemorrhage back in November and being in hospital ever since fighting to survive, our Dad got diagnosed with Covid-19 last week and he sadly passed away today. Rest In Peace Dad x’

The humanitarian cost of the pandemic continues to mount globally as more than 415,000 people have been infected with the deadly disease, and more than 18,000 have been killed. 

Meanwhile Prince Charles has tested positive for coronavirus and is self-isolating at his home on the Balmoral estate, it was revealed today.

The Prince of Wales, 71, has a ‘mild’ form of the illness and is with his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, who has tested negative and is without any symptoms of the virus, which has killed 435 and infected 8,000 more in the UK so far.

A royal source said Charles’ doctor’s most conservative estimate was that the prince was contagious on March 13 – 24 hours after ‘briefly’ meeting his 93-year-old mother the Queen.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman has said: ‘Her Majesty remains in good health. The Queen is following all the appropriate advice with regard to her welfare’.

Shoppers have also been pictured squeezing together at supermarkets Wednesday morning, ignoring social distancing rules and raising fears that stores could become the new superspreaders of coronavirus.

Under government guidelines, people are supposed to stay 6ft apart from others if they have to go outside, but shoppers at several supermarkets all over the UK this morning have been flouting the rules while stocking up on essentials.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday ordered Brits to stay at home to halt the spread of the virus, imposing curbs on everyday life without precedent in peacetime.

However, people are still allowed to leave their homes to shop for basic necessities, leading to supermarkets being flooded with customers and fears that they will become hotbeds of the virus.   

Several major chains are now introducing new measures to try and enforce social distancing and protect staff.

Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Sainsbury’s have brought in protective screens for staff, and Waitrose – which is introducing ‘two-metre marshalls’ who will manage queues outside shops – has ordered screens and visors for its workers.

Waitrose calls its policies ‘a set of strong, new measures’ to help its customers shop safely.

The company said the number of customers allowed in at any one time will be limited so that social distancing can be observed, and a ‘one in, one out’ policy will be operated when it is judged that the shop is at capacity.

Customers coming to Waitrose will see marshals who will help to manage queues outside shops and if necessary remind people to respect the two-metre social distancing rule.

Waitrose will also dedicate the first opening hour to elderly and vulnerable customers and those caring for them, while NHS staff will continue to be given priority checkout service.

There will also be ‘safe distance’ floor signage, protective screens at checkouts, and additional security.

Morrisons, which has already put up perspex screens, is introducing signage in stores to support social distancing, including floor stickers, posters and banners which will ask customers to keep one trolley distance apart, as well as giving guidance on where to wait and where to queue. 

Asda has also announced similar measures, saying it will introduce floor markers and directional barriers to help customers keep their distance, and will install perspex screens at its checkouts.

Hand sanitiser will be available for customers to use when entering and departing.

A number of self-service machine will also be shut in order to enforce the two-metre rule, a spokesperson told MailOnline.

Sainsbury’s said it is ‘working through the detail’ but expects to restrict the number of people allowed in stores at any one time, and will also be introducing barriers outside to ensure people queue at a safe distance when waiting to get in.

The supermarket said it will also have reminders to keep two metres apart displayed throughout stores, screens at manned checkouts, and will close every other payment point to help keep people apart.

On Tuesday afternoon, Marks & Spencer said its 31 outlet stores selling only clothing and homeware will be temporarily closed.

M&S said when customers arrive at its food stores, they will see a ‘greeter’ who will ensure the number of customers in the store at any one time is managed.

Lombardy, Italy, replaced Wuhan in China, as the most badly impacted region in the world, with authorities in the European country announcing that 743 more people had died in the country on Tuesday, bringing the total dead to 6,820.

Italian authorities believe some of the restrictive measures taken may be beginning to have an impact after officially registered new infections rose by just eight percent, the same percentage increase as Monday- the lowest level since Italy registered its first death on February 21.

The trajectory of the rapidly spreading virus shows that Madrid and London could become the next hotspots of the disease, with deaths now doubling every two days in the respective capital cities.  

In the UK, 87 more patients died overnight in England, including 21 at the one NHS trust in London. The UK’s death toll has risen almost six-fold in the space of a week, with just 71 fatalities recorded last Tuesday.

And in Spain the armed forces asked NATO for humanitarian assistance to fight the novel coronavirus as the national death toll touched 2,700 and infections soared towards 40,000.

The Madrid region has suffered the brunt of the epidemic with 12,352 infections – just under a third of the total – and 1,535 deaths, or 57 percent of the national figure.

Outside of Europe, in the United States, the death toll has risen quite slowly compared to other nations so far, but the trajectory for New York’s mortality curve is much steeper, suggesting it could overtake Madrid.

More than 12,000 people have tested positive in the city and 125 have died. A state-wide lockdown took effect on Sunday night. 

Source: dailymail UK