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A 12-year-old girl identified as Rachael has died in Ghent, Belgium after contracting the deadly coronavirus and has become Europe’s youngest victim in Belgium.
Rachel had fallen ill and was sent to the hospital for treatment but she was sent back home with medication because her doctor thought was having an allergic reaction.
The doctor told Rachel’s mother who is originally from Ghana that “considering coronavirus as a possible cause was out of the question”. She was sent home with medication to treat fever.
But Rachel’s condition became worse when she went home. By the third day on Monday, she was struggling to breath normal.
Rachel’s mother and other family members panicked and called the emergency center for an ambulance, but due to language barrier and confusion, the operator could not understand the ‘confusing call’ before they hang up.
The operator called back 3 times but had no success. The police were sent to their residence for further inquiries but because the family had no car, a neighbor had driven them to the hospital.
“The emergency center tried to call back three times but got no answer. The call, which came from Ghent, was reheard three or four times but remained unintelligible. The local police were sent on the spot, but by then, the child was already gone”, HLN reported.
Sadly, Rachel was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Hospital. Rachel is now the youngest person to die of coronavirus in Belgium.
It is still unclear where she contracted the virus from but the suspicion is that she might have contracted it from the treatment the hospital exposed her to.
Rachel’s sister has said the girl “was not a priority” for coronavirus treatment because of her age.
“Rachel was perfectly healthy. Belgium must start testing young people for the virus; Only then can children like Rachel be saved,” she told the Het Nieuwsblad newspaper.
None of her immediate family members is currently displaying symptoms and none of them have undergone a test for the virus following her death yet.
