'Rest in peace': Healthy 14-year-old boy dies from coronavirus
A young amateur futsal player has become the youngest known person in Europe to be struck down by the novel coronavirus.
Vitor Godinho, 14, reportedly died in a hospital near Porto in Potugal on Sunday, local time.
According to local media reports, the teen is understood to have suffered from psoriasis, a skin disorder that can affect the immune system and is associated with other serious health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression.
Apart from psoriasis, he had no major underlying health issues, The Mirror reported.
Located more than 300 kilometres north of the capital Lisbon, Porto is the country’s second largest city.
As the young boy’s condition deteriorated, doctors reportedly made a last minute decision not to transfer him to a bigger hospital with a paediatric emergency unit because he was so unwell.
Futsal coach João Jorge was among those to express sadness at the sudden loss of the young man as his “futsal family” grieved.
“We are sad, very sad, but your case makes us even more alert. Young people, stay at home for yourself and everyone,” he wrote.
“My feelings to the family and club mates. May you rest in peace.”
Europe has been hit hard by COVID-19 as the novel coronavirus has washed through the continent in recent months with Italy and Spain accounting for about a quarter of the world’s official cases today.
At the time of writing, Portugal has nearly 6,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and at least 119 deaths.
The boy’s death comes just days after a 16-year-old French girl passed away from COVID-19 when she suffering a “violent” deterioration in her health after testing positive for the deadly virus.
A young man, 17, also reportedly died from COVID-19 in the United States last week after being denied care at a private hospital because he didn’t have health insurance. On Saturday, local time, a baby in Chicago died after testing positive for COVID-19, NBC reported.
While the mortality rate for COVID-19 is dramatically higher for older people, teens and adults in their 20s have also ended up in intensive care.
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