16-year-old dies from coronavirus in France

A 16-year-old French schoolgirl with no underlying health problems has become the youngest person in Europe to die of COVID-19, according to reports.

The girl — only being identified as Julie A. — died late Tuesday at Necker children’s hospital in Paris after a “violent” decline from what appeared to be just a “slight cough,” her family told French media.

“It’s unbearable,” the girl’s mother, Sabine, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We were meant to have an ordinary life.”

A week ago, Julie developed a mild cough but on Saturday she began to feel short of breath, her mother said.

She underwent scans in hospital and several tests for COVID-19, the disease first detected in China late last year that has now killed more than 23,000 worldwide.

Her condition deteriorated and her death was announced on Thursday, with health officials emphasising that severe cases are very rare in young people.

“From the start, we were told that the virus doesn’t affect young people. We believed it, like everyone else,” Sabine said. Her daughter had no known underlying health problems.

Source: Agencies


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