19-Year-Old Healthy Italian Chef in London Dies in Suspected Coronavirus Case

A young chef from Italy was told ‘he had nothing to worry about’ by doctors before his death, which his family think coronavirus caused. 

Luca Di Nicola, who was working in his family’s restaurant in Enfield, north London, died on Tuesday evening.

According to Italian media, Luca, originally from Nereto in east Italy, died from apparent fulminant pneumonia at London’s North Middlesex Hospital.

His distraught family have said they are finding it difficult to accept Luca’s death because he was ‘very healthy.’

They have since suggested that he may have had coronavirus, but this is yet to be tested and confirmed by medics. The family say they are awaiting post-mortem swab results.

Luca’s aunt Giada told La Repubblica: “For a week before his death, Luca had a fever and a cough and my sister-in-law Clarissa and her partner Vincenzo, who lived in the same house, also had it.

“The London-based doctor gave my nephew some paracetamol but Luca got worse on March 23. The doctor visited him at home and told him that he was young, strong and that he didn’t have to worry about that bad flu.”

However, Giada said his condition worsened and he was complaining of chest pains.

They dialled 999 and he was rushed to hospital, with paramedics reviving him on the way. It is reported his lungs were full of blood and water and he was rushed to the intensive care unit at the hospital. He died around half an hour later at about 7pm.

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Written by

George Day

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