Government 'very worried' about new illness in children that may be caused by Covid-19

Matt Hancock appeared on LBC radio this morning.

He said: ‘We put out at the weekend a call across the NHS because some cases of this had been identified and then this call essentially says to doctors in other parts of the country 'have you seen this condition?' and then they collate the information and find out what's going on.’

He said: ‘We have lost some children,’ adding: ‘There are some children who have died who didn't have underlying health conditions.’

The Health Secretary explained: ‘It's a fresh, new disease that we think may be caused by coronavirus and the Covid-19 virus.

‘We're not 100 per cent sure because some of the people who got it hadn't tested positive.

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‘We're doing a lot of research now but it is something we're worried about.

‘What I would also stress is that it is rare.

‘Although it is very significant for those children who do get it the number of cases is small.’

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