British Muslim nurse dies after contracting coronavirus

LONDON

Areema Nasreen, a 36-year-old British Muslim nurse, died on Friday after falling ill from coronavirus.

She is the latest in a string of deaths in Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) from the virus. Six out of the eight casualties in the NHS so far are Muslims with backgrounds in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

The mother of three had no underlying health conditions, and died in Walsall Manor hospital, central-west England, where she had worked for 16 years.

She started work at the hospital as a housekeeper and healthcare assistant, before completing her studies to become a nurse.

Nasreen qualified last January and worked as a nurse in the acute medical unit.

The other British Muslims who have died from coronavirus at the front lines of the NHS fight against the outbreak are: Mohamed Sami Shusha, 79, a consultant histopathologist; Alfa Saadu, 68, a geriatric medicine specialist; Amged el-Hawrani, 55, an ear, nose, and throat consultant; Habib Zeidi, 76, a general practitioner, and Adil el-Tayar, 64, a surgeon.

According to government figures, there were over 1.2 million people working for the National Health Service as of March 2019.

The figures showed that, overall, 79.2% of those whose ethnicities were known were white, and 20.7% were from other ethnic backgrounds, including Asian, Black, Chinese, mixed, and other backgrounds.

However, when looking at the figures for just medical, rather than also including non-medical roles, the number of white staff drops to 55.6% and the number of ethnic minority staff rises to 44.4%.

Since appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 181 countries and regions.

Data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University shows worldwide infections surging past 1 million, with over 58,000 deaths. More than 225,000 people have recovered.