Areema Nasreen: 36-year-old nurse dies after contracting coronavirus

Mother of three described by family as ‘normally fit and healthy’ dies in West Midlands more than two weeks after being diagnosed with Covid-19

Areema Nasreen qualified as a nurse last year and worked at Walsall Manor Hospital (PA)

An NHS nurse aged 36 has died at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands after contracting Covid-19.

Areema Nasreen, a mother of three, died more than two weeks after first being diagnosed with the disease, the hospital confirmed.

Ms Nasreen had worked for the NHS for more than 16 years. She is reported to have died in the early hours of Friday.

When her illness was first reported on 23 March, she was said to have had no underlying health issues and was described as “normally fit and healthy” by her family while she was on a ventilator in the hospital where she worked.

At the time, her sister Kazeema Nasreen said: “People are not taking this seriously enough. She is young – it is not just the elderly who are at risk.

“I want everyone to know how dangerous this is. My sister is only 36 and is normally fit and healthy.”

The 22-year-old said her elder sister was on annual leave from her job at Walsall Manor Hospital when she first started showing symptoms and she could have picked it up “virtually anywhere”.

Fellow nurse and close friend of Ms Naseen, Rubi Aktar, paid tribute to her on social media: “She was the most loveliest, genuine person you could ever meet, she went above and beyond for everyone she met.

“I’m so grateful that I had the honour to call her my best friend, she saw me at my best and my worst and accepted my every flaw.

“I am so broken that words can’t explain. I can’t believe I will not see your smile again.”

On Friday another nurse was also named as having died from coronavirus at a hospital in Kent.

Aimee O’Rourke, 39, died on Thursday at the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital in Margate.

She was also a mother of three. Ms O’Rourke, described as an “amazing mum” and “one in a million”, studied at Canterbury Christ Church University before joining the NHS in 2017, Kent Messenger reports.

It is understood she started showing symptoms of coronavirus about two weeks ago before her condition deteriorated and she was taken into intensive care at the QEQM – the hospital where she worked – and put on a ventilator.

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust paid tribute to Ms O'Rourke.

Ward manager Julie Gammon, who sat with Ms O'Rourke upon her admission to hospital after she fell ill, said: "She was such a kind and caring nurse, and she had a really special relationship with her patients and colleagues.

"Nursing was something she had always wanted to do, although she came to it relatively late after raising her girls.

"Aimee was a really valuable part of our work family and would always offer to help if she could. She was really growing and developing in her skills and confidence and I know she would have gone on to have a great career."

The health secretary Matt Hancock told the PA news agency: “I pay tribute to the NHS staff who’ve died serving the NHS, serving the nation.

“It shows the incredible bravery of every member of the NHS who goes into work knowing that these dangers are there.

“I think it is a testament to every doctor and nurse and paramedic and other health professional who is working in the NHS in these difficult times.

“And I think the whole nation is grateful.”

The deaths come after the UK endured its deadliest day of the coronavirus pandemic, with 569 fatalities recorded in 24 hours, according to figures released on Thursday.

Amid mounting anger at lack of testing for Covid-19 in the UK – including among frontline health workers – the government has repeatedly promised to increase levels.

On Thursday afternoon, health secretary Matt Hancock announced a new target of testing 100,000 people a day for Covid-19 by the end of April, and he said tests for frontline NHS staff would “increase significantly” from this weekend.

The target is now lower than earlier promises of 250,000 tests a day which Boris Johnson had announced in mid-March.