A 47-year-old ticket inspector has died of Covid-19 after she and a colleague were spat and coughed at.
The woman, who has been named as Belly Mujinga, had been working at London’s Victoria Station when a member of the public who claimed to be infected with the virus spat and coughed at her and another co-worker. According to ITV, both women were diagnosed with the virus soon after.
It was confirmed today that Mujinga died from the coronavirus on 5 April. It has been reported that she was suffering from an underlying health condition.
Manuel Cortes of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association said: “We are shocked and devastated at Belly’s death. She is one of far too many frontline workers who have lost their lives to coronavirus. Sadly, Belly’s is just one of many family tragedies where children have had their parents taken away from them.”
Cortes said that Mujinga’s death was not inevitable.
“As a vulnerable person in the ‘at risk’ category, and her condition known to her employer, there are questions about why she wasn’t stood down from frontline duties early on in this pandemic,” he said.
“Rather than talking about the easing the lockdown, the government must first ensure that the right precautions and protections have been taken so that more lives are not lost.”
As of Tuesday morning, the British Press Association, following its own study of the data, has reported that the UK’s Covid-19 death toll has now surpassed 40,000.
