An eight-month-old baby who was feared to be Britain’s youngest coronavirus sufferer gets the all clear after a doctor treating him for a leg injury in hospital tested positive for the virus.
Terrified mother Stephanie Adlam, 28, self-isolated herself, baby James and his four-year-old sister Lexi after being told her son had come into ‘direct and significant’ contact with the infected medic at Worthing hospital, West Sussex.
She said the family are ‘jumping for joy’ after tests by doctors confirmed that James did not have the virus. He had been taken to hospital after cutting his knee, which concerned his mother as he suffers from haemophilia.
James Adlam was given the all clear after he came into contact with a doctor at Worthing hospital, West Sussex, where he was treated for a leg injury
Terrified mother Stephanie isolated her family at home (pictured) as she waited for his results
‘After everything we’ve been through – the panic, the terror – it’s a huge weight off our shoulders,’ a relieved Stephanie said to The Sun.
‘We still have to stay indoors until next week but we are jumping for joy. It’s been a really crazy week, I can’t put it into words.
‘I’m just so relieved it’s all over and my family are going to be OK.’
James had been suffering severe symptoms including a high temperature, coughing fits, running nose and extreme fatigue. The baby also has a pre-existing lung condition.
James’s grandfather Timothy Wood, 74, told MailOnline this week that the whole family was ‘incredibly worried’ as they waited for a call with James’s test results.
There are nine confirmed cases in the UK so far, and almost 70,000 cases worldwide
James Adlam’s grandfather’s Tim revealed the family had been ‘incredibly worried’ and that he felt ‘like I’ve been struck by lightning’
‘I feel like I’ve been struck by lightning’, he said. Explaining what happened he said: ‘James had a bleed in the knee and as he has haemophilia he went to Worthing Hospital on February 2.
‘We have been told he was treated by a male doctor who has now been confirmed as having the virus.’
His mother has admitted she is terrified James could die and they feel abandoned by hospital authorities.
Both she and James are wearing masks unable to leave the small flat they share with James four-year-old sister Lexi.
Mr Wood, a retired garage service manager, said:’I am keeping in touch via phone as I can’t enter the flat. The little lad has a cough and obviously we are all desperately worried.
‘He appears to be reasonably well today but it’s terrifying waiting for the results. It’s been a huge shock and something we never expected to happen.
‘I feel like I’ve been struck by lightning. All I can do is help by feeding their meters outside so they have their heat and facilities still working.
‘It’s awful for my daughter in law and son Nick. They are living a nightmare.
The 28-year-old mother-of-two was in a state of panic as she awaits test results on her boy.
She told The Sun that he developed symptoms in Worthing, West Sussex, adding: ‘I have to live every moment wondering if he might die.’
The mother and her child are holed up in their Worthing flat and are both using masks.
Workers in protective suits inside of the County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton on Monday after a GP at the practice was diagnosed with the deadly virus
She accused Worthing Hospital staff of abandoning her since they identified the risk and told her to ring 111 if their conditions worsen.
‘The first thing going through my head is that this thing is going to kill me, my son, my ex-partner and daughter,’ she said.
Ms Adlam also slammed senior officials at the hospital for not confirming that the A&E worker had tested positive sooner.
James, who also has haemophilia, was admitted on February 2 for an internal bleed after he knocked it playing.
During his seven-day stay he came into contact with the GP who was later found to have coronavirus.
Ms Adlam said that one minute they were getting the leg checked and the next they were potential victims of a virus that is killing people worldwide. It was Public Health England who called her at home to inform her she was at risk.
Paramedics in hazmat suits descended on her home within minutes, taking them in an ambulance for testing.
Their father, who is Ms Adlam’s former partner, Nick, said the family is in a living hell and totally petrified as nothing seems to ease the symptoms.
They are so cut-off from the outside world that they only open the door to take food deliveries.
Dr Catriona Saynor (pictured left) works as a locum at County Oak Medical Centre in Brighton, which was shut down this week Steve Walsh, a gas salesman from Hove, was this week revealed to have unknowingly been the source of six out of the UK’s eight coronavirus infections – he and Dr Saynor had been on a family holiday together in France
The GP in question is from Brighton and had holidayed with ‘super-spreader’ Stephen Walsh.
Father-of-two Mr Walsh caught coronavirus in Singapore then unwittingly passed it onto 11 people – including a group of doctors – while skiing in France.
The doctor’s identity is being kept secret. Ms Adlam has urged the government and health bosses to act with more immediacy and get on top of the crisis.
More than 64,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus worldwide, and nine cases have been confirmed so far in Britain.