Very sad news.
A 12-year-old Belgian girl has become the youngest known person in Europe to die after contracting coronavirus.
The news was confirmed on Tuesday by Belgium’s national crisis centre spokesman Emmanuel Andre, who described the situation as “an emotionally difficult moment, because it involves a child, and it has also upset the medical and scientific community”.
He added: “We are thinking of her family and friends. It is an event that is very rare, but one which upsets us greatly.”
It is not yet known whether or not the girl had an underlying health condition.
Andre said that 98 people had died with the infection over the last 24 hours in Belgium, bringing the total amount of deaths to 705 in a country of around 11.5 million people.
More than 12,705 infections have been confirmed so far in Belgium.
Belgium is expecting the virus to reach its peak over the next couple of days.
Before this news emerged, the youngest person in Europe to die after contracting coronavirus was believed to be Vitor Godhino, a 14-year-old boy from Portugal.
Covid-19 is continuing to have a devastating impact across the world, with Spain having just announced 849 deaths in 24 hours in what is the deadliest day of the outbreak in the country thus far.
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