Prince William told colleagues of a consultant who died from the coronavirus disease how “proud” he is of the “incredible job” they are doing on the front line.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge telephoned Queen’s Hospital Burton in Staffordshire, where staffers have been mourning the death of Amged el-Hawrani.
The 55-year-old surgeon’s death over the weekend has rocked the medical profession, bringing home the reality of the risk taken by clinicians who deal face-to-face with infected patients every day.
On Thursday, Britain recorded 2,921 coronavirus deaths, up from 569 since Wednesday, as the country’s count of confirmed cases hit 33,718.
Prince William, 37, told the hospital’s staff: “We’d just like to say from the two of us how proud we are of all of you and how amazingly you are all doing under extreme circumstances.
“I know all of you see this as your job and that you get on with it, but this is a different level and you are doing an incredible job. The whole country is proud of you, so thank you for everything you’re doing and all the hours you are putting in,” he said.
Hawrani died at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester on Saturday, and a minute’s silence was held for him at the hospital this week.
The royal couple also phoned University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie, Scotland, and spoke to Alice Bloxham, a sister in a coronavirus ward at the hospital.
Bloxham said: “Until recently, our ward was an Acute Care of the Elderly ward, but now we are caring for patients with COVID-19. This has been a difficult time for all the patients we care for and for the staff working in a very different environment.”
Kate Middleton, 38, told the staff: “You’re stretched in all sorts of ways looking after the patients in your care under such extreme circumstances. But you also need to be able to make sure you support yourselves, and each other. It must be so hard, but I’m glad to hear that you’re currently getting all the support you need.”
Donna Marie McGroarty, an infectious diseases charge nurse at the hospital, said, “The telephone call from the Duke and Duchess was totally unexpected and a real morale boost.”
Prince William and Kate Middleton visit with schoolchildren in the Margalla Hills of Pakistan as part of a royal tour in October 2019. Getty ImagesWilliam and Kate also visited a London Ambulance Service non-emergency call center two weeks ago, which has been overwhelmed by ill people fearing they have the virus.
In March, Prince William described the coronavirus pandemic as a day he “dreaded” as he launched a fundraising drive to battle the disease.
In a video message on behalf of Britain’s National Emergencies Trust, he said: “Whenever and wherever adversity strikes, the people of the U.K. have a unique ability to pull together. The way the local community supports those affected shows the very best of our values and human nature.”
He continued: “The public’s desire to help in the wake of tragedy needs to be managed and channeled in the best possible way, which is why the establishment of a national emergencies trust was so important. I said at its launch last year that I dreaded the day when it would be needed. Sadly, with the outbreak of COVID-19, that day has come faster than any of us would have hoped.”
