London woman dies of suspected Covid-19 after paramedic claimed ‘she is not a priority’

A 36-year-old London woman and mother of three passed away in her flat of suspected coronavirus on March 21 after being told by a paramedic to treat herself at home. She was not transported to the hospital.

According to The Guardian, Kayla Williams died a day after her husband, Fabian Williams, called the paramedics to their residence. Williams said he called 999 on March 20 after his wife developed a cough and temperature and had serious stomach and chest pains.

“I called 999 because my wife was breathless, she was vomiting and she had pains in her stomach. As I was talking to them she was getting worse and they told me to put her on the floor and to make her body flat,” he said.

Suspected to be a COVID-19 case, a paramedic who arrived conducted some tests but concluded she would not be taken to the hospital for further treatment.

“She told me the hospital won’t take her, she is not a priority. She did not stay very long and she went outside to write her report and posted it through the door,” Williams said.

Kayla’s condition worsened the next day. According to Williams, he bathed and dressed her and then fed her some soup in the morning. He took a break to rest afterwards, but after returning later to check up on her, he found her unresponsive with her head down, The Guardian reports.

“She was already dead,” Williams said. “I put her on the ground – because that is what they had told me to do before – and I rang 999 again and they told me to put my hand on her chest and pump her chest.”

Paramedics tried resuscitating her when they arrived but were unable to. Police officers later came to his house but declined to enter when he asked them in.

“They stood on the doorstep and would not come in when I asked them to,” he said, adding that a funeral director came to the house afterwards. He was, however, clueless as to what was happening as he hadn’t been briefed on anything.

“They put on full forensic suits outside, with full masks, visors and gloves. They covered their feet as well. This is when I thought; ‘What’s going on? This is not right,’” he told The Guardian.

His wife’s body, which was determined to be an infectious disease death and was wrapped in accordance to the required precautionary measures, was subsequently transported out of the house. Williams, however, still remains in a limbo.

“I have heard nothing since. They have left me here and said I must isolate. They haven’t told me anything else. I am a diabetic. I take insulin. All I know is I am supposed to isolate. No one has mentioned her body being tested or anything.”

Kayla’s diagnosis by the London ambulance service after their first visit revealed she displayed COVID-19 symptoms, including non-productive cough, headache and chest pains, documents obtained by The Guardian showed. The recommendation given, however, was “self-care, use antipyretics, increase food/fluid.” Williams and the rest of the family were also advised to “advised to isolate.”

“We were called at 8.32am on Friday 20 March to reports of a person unwell at an address in Peckham. Our clinicians treated a patient and advised them to call back if their condition changed,” a London ambulance service spokesperson said.

“We were called the following day at 3.24pm and sent a number of resources, with our first medics arriving in under seven minutes. Sadly, the patient had died. Our sympathy is with the family at this time.

“We are working incredibly hard in these unprecedented times to look after Londoners.”