Tributes to NHS workers who have died after testing positive for Covid-19

On Saturday, Sara Trollope was confirmed to have died at Watford General Hospital, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust said 52-year-old Julie Omar had been self-isolating prior to her death and Cardiff and Value University Health Board confirmed the death of Gareth Roberts. 

Here are the other NHS workers thought to have made the ultimate sacrifice in the coronavirus pandemic:

- A nurse based at St Cross Hospital in Rugby, who the trust are not identifying, died of suspected Covid-19.

- Elsie Sazuze, a care home nurse who worked for Wolverhampton-based agency Totallycare, died this week, the agency confirmed.

- Two porters at the John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford have died, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said on Saturday. The trust added that both men were married to nursing staff at the hospital.

- Aintree University Hospital said staff nurse Liz Glanister died on Friday April 3.

- Nurse Areema Nasreen, 36, died on April 2 in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands - where she had worked for 16 years.

- Nurse Aimee O'Rourke, 39, died at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQMH) in Margate, Kent, where she worked, on Thursday.

- Rebecca Mack, 29, died on Sunday after going into self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms.

- Donald Suelto, who worked at Hammersmith Hospital in west London, died after going into self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms, a friend and fellow NHS nurse said.

- The Mail on Sunday reported that 27-year-old nurse John Alagos - who treated coronavirus patients at Watford General Hospital - died after a shift on Friday April 3.

- Nurse Alice Kit Tak Ong, 70, passed away on Tuesday, her daughter said.

- Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex on Sunday April 5 announced the death of 54-year-old midwife Lynsay Coventry while Janice Graham, a 58-year-old healthcare support worker in Scotland, died on Monday.

- Healthcare assistant Thomas Harvey, 57, a father-of-seven who worked at Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, east London, died at home on March 29.

- Another healthcare assistant, Glen Corbin, 59, had worked at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health in Harlesden, north-west London, for more than 25 years.

- Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, a GP in Leigh-on-Sea, died in intensive care at Southend Hospital, Essex, on March 25.

- Amged El-Hawrani, an ear, nose and throat consultant with University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust (UHDB), died at the Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on March 28.

- Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, who had returned to work from retirement, died on Monday at the Whittington Hospital in north London.

- Transplant surgeon Adil El Tayar, 63, died at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, west London, on March 25.

- Professor Sami Shousha, 79, who had worked at UK cancer research laboratories at London's Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals since 1978, died on April 2.

- Consultant geriatrician Anton Sebastianpillai, who had a long association with Kingston Hospital in south-west London, died on April 4.

- Consultant urologist Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, who wrote a Facebook post asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urgently provide every NHS worker with PPE, died on Wednesday night.

- Dr Edmond Adedeji, 62, who worked as a locum registrar in the emergency department of Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire, died on April 8.

- Jitendra Rathod, an associate specialist in cardio-thoracic surgery at the University Hospital of Wales, died on Monday morning.

- GP Fayez Ayache, 76, died in Ipswich Hospital on April 8.

- Another family doctor, Syed Haider, who worked in Dagenham east London, died in hospital on Monday after it is believed he developed coronavirus symptoms.

- Patient discharge planner Barbara Moore, 54, died on Monday, the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

On Saturday morning, Health Secretary Matt Hancock paid tribute to those who had died, then announcing a total of 19 deaths.

He said: "My heart goes out to their families, these are people who have put themselves on the front line.

"The work is going on to establish whether they caught coronavirus in the line of duty while at work or whether, like so many other people, caught it in the rest of their lives."

And on Saturday afternoon, Home Secretary Priti Patel said she was sorry if anyone felt there had been failings over the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Her comments came as the UK death toll approached 10,000.

The Government has been dogged by criticism since the pandemic hit UK shores that not enough PPE was available for health workers, especially those working in social care.

The Liberal Democrats said the issue was developing into a "national scandal".

Ms Patel, fielding questions at a Downing Street briefing on Saturday, said she was "sorry" if people felt there had been failings regarding the supply of PPE.

After being asked twice if she would apologise to NHS staff and their families over supplies of PPE, Ms Patel said: "I'm sorry if people feel that there have been failings. I will be very, very clear about that.

"But at the same time, we are in an unprecedented global health pandemic right now.

"It is inevitable that the demand and the pressures on PPE and demand for PPE are going to be exponential. They are going to be incredibly high.

"And of course we are trying to address that as a Government."

NHS England medical director Stephen Powis said he was confident there would be enough hi-tech FFP3 masks available to cover the length of the pandemic.

He also said officials were "working very hard" on gown supplies, the use of which has been extended in light of last week's updated guidance.