Daily News Roundup

WEDNESDAY, MAY 13

A ticket office worker in London’s Victoria station has died of coronavirus after being spat on while doing her job.

Belly Mujinga, 47, was on the concourse the station on March 22 when a member of the public, who said he had COVID-19, spat and coughed at her and a colleague.

Within days of the assault, both women fell ill with the virus.

Ms Mujinga, who had underlying respiratory problems, was admitted to hospital and put on a ventilator but died on April 5, 14 days after the assault at one of London’s busiest rail stations.

She had an 11-year-old daughter.

Belly Mujinga, pictured with her 11-year-old daughter, died 14 days after being spat on.(Supplied)

It has not been confirmed how she contracted the virus.

Ms Mujinga’s husband, Lusamba Gode Katalay, told British broadcaster Sky News that the Southern Railway Service did not provide his wife with protective equipment.

The British Transport Police said an inquiry had been launched to trace the man who spat at the two workers.

“We are shocked and devastated at Belly’s death,” Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, said in a statement.

“She is one of far too many frontline workers who have lost their lives to coronavirus.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the attack “despicable”.

In other COVID-19 news:

• NSW Health has confirmed another coronavirus death linked to the Ruby Princess almost two months after the infected ship docked in Sydney. The latest fatality, an 81-year-old woman who was a passenger on the cruise, means Australia’s COVID-19 death toll is now 98. She is the 22nd person to die from the ship, which docked in Sydney in March 19 and has been linked to almost 700 coronavirus cases.
• The Gold Coast Titans have given Bryce Cartwright and Brian Kelly until tomorrow to drop their objections and agree to have a flu shot if they want to train and play with the team when the NRL season restarts.
• The Federal Government is requesting urgent advice about a mystery illness that has killed at least three children in the United States, including on whether the condition could be linked to COVID-19. The inflammatory condition, which resembles Kawasaki disease or toxic shock syndrome, has been noted in children in the United Kingdom, Italy and the US, where 70 children have been diagnosed with it in New York. No conclusive link between the inflammatory illness and COVID-19 has been made by scientists, and while it has appeared in some children who have COVID-19, other children diagnosed with the condition have not tested positive for coronavirus. Health Minister Greg Hunt said officials were keen to learn more about the illness, but stressed there were no known cases in Australia.