Brussels: A 12-year-old girl confirmed infected with COVID-19 has died in Belgium, health officials said Tuesday. Fatality at such a young age "is a very rare occurrence," said government spokesman Dr Emmanuel Andre, adding that her death "shook us".
The girl had had a fever for three days before her death, and tested positive for COVID-19, said another spokesman, Steven Van Gucht. No other details were given about her case, including whether she had any other underlying health problems.
It was the first death of a child in the coronavirus crisis in Belgium, which has now recorded a total 705 deaths from the disease it causes, according to the latest official toll. Last week, France reported the death of a 16-year-old girl from coronavirus in the greater Paris region.
Although serious COVID-19 infections are uncommon among the young, some exceptional cases have been taken to hospital intensive-care wards, as US health authorities have pointed out. Belgium's toll on Tuesday represented a jump of nearly200fatalitiesfromthatgiven the previous day, which stood at 513.
