Coronavirus 'survivor', 81, died just hours after appearing in viral 'applause' video that went around the world
AN 81-year-old hailed a "miracle" after becoming the first patient to leave a Spanish hospital's coronavirus care unit has died just 36 hours after being sent home.
Video clips of gown-wearing medical staff clapping the elderly woman as she was wheeled out of isolation in her bed were shared around the world.
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However, it's now been revealed she passed away at home less than two days after checking out of the Hospital Clinico de Valladolid in the north west of the country.
The woman – named only as Carmen F.A. – was hospitalised on 19th March after being struck down by the deadly virus.
She seemingly recovered from COVID-19 on Monday and became the first patient to make it out of the ICU unit at the hospital.
Tragically she then died just hours after returning to her home, her family have now revealed.
Her cause of death has not yet been determined.
Her sister told local media: “Yes she is my sister, she left applauding and sending kisses and now she is being buried and I cannot go.”
The news comes as the death toll in Spain soared to more than 4,800 today after 769 people died in 24 hours – a record one-day figure for fatalities.
Health ministry figures showed the number of deaths reaching 4,858, while cases jumped to 64,059, although the rate of new infections does seem to be slowing down.
The death toll on Thursday was 655 while the day before there were 738 deaths.
Spain is now the one of the worst-affected countries having overtaken China's death toll of 3,292 on Wednesday .
On Thursday, we reported how Spain's healthcare system is on the brink of “collapse” with some patients waiting three days for beds.
Disturbing video and photos from hospitals in the capital Madrid and further south in Albacete showed patients, many hooked up to oxygen tanks, crowding corridors and emergency rooms.
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At the 12 de Octubre University Hospital, patients could be seen on the floor as they waited for a bed in recent days.
The hospital says the patients have since been accommodated elsewhere.
“We are collapsing. We need more workers”, said Lidia Perera, a nurse who works at Madrid's Hospital de la Paz, which has 1,000 beds.
This week, 11 of the hospital's 14 floors are devoted to caring for those suffering from COVID-19, and there is still not enough room.
The patients with less serious cases of the disease are being put in the hospital's gym or in a large tent outside.
Yesterday, the number of medical personnel infected was nearly 6,500 nationally, health authorities said, representing over 10 per cent of the country's 56,188 total cases .
At least three health care workers have died so far.
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