Coronavirus: WWII veteran, 99, gets guard of honour after COVID-19 recovery
Written by News on 10/04/2020
A 99-year-old Second World War veteran has thanked NHS staff after recovering from coronavirus.
Albert Chambers, who turns 100 in July, was given a guard of honour from nurses at Tickhill Road Hospital in Doncaster after overcoming COVID-19.
NHS North East and Yorkshire posted a video of Mr Chambers at the hospital saying it had “lovely news” that he had “fought off coronavirus“.
Asked if he had a message to the nurses who have cared for him, Mr Chambers replied: “There’s nothing I can say. Thank you very much. I appreciate every bit you’ve done for me. You couldn’t have been better.”
Mr Chambers’ recovery comes after a 101-year-old man was discharged from hospital after being treated for COVID-19.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust shared a photo of Keith Watson and said he was returning home after “beating coronavirus”.
“Well done to everyone on Ward 12 at the Alexandra Hospital for looking after Keith so well for the past two weeks,” the trust said.
There have been several cases of elderly patients recovering from coronavirus in the UK in recent weeks.
They included 99-year-old great-grandmother Rita Reynolds from Stockport and 87-year-old Ewart Lockton who was pictured arm in arm with a smiling NHS worker after leaving North Manchester General Hospital.
Meanwhile in Italy, a 103-year-old woman who lived through the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 has recovered from COVID-19.
Ada Zanusso, from the northern Italian town of Lessona, was conspicuously undramatic about her ordeal, saying she had “some fever” – despite drifting in and out of consciousness while confined to bed for a week with the illness.
She advised others who fall ill with the virus to “give yourself courage, have faith”.
COVID-19 can cause mild or moderate symptoms and most of those who are infected recover, but the elderly and those with existing health problems can be at high risk for more serious illness.
The World Health Organisation says 95% of those who have died in Europe were over 60 years old.
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There have been more than 1.5 million cases of coronavirus around the world, with more than 95,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking the pandemic.
In the UK, a total of 7,978 patients with COVID-19 are confirmed to have died, while 65,077 people have tested positive for the virus.
(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: WWII veteran, 99, gets guard of honour after COVID-19 recovery
