At the time of writing this blog post, 465 people in the UK have tragically died of coronavirus.

For many of these awfully sad deaths, the media have been all too ready to let us know that the deceased had ‘other health problems’.

I know that I am not the only one to find this phrase very insensitive. While it is almost certainly not the intention of whoever is reporting the death, I cannot help but feel that by giving us this extra nugget of information, we are supposed to find the passing of somebody with health issues less tragic than that of an individual who is normally fit and well.

Are those lucky enough to be in tip-top health, supposed to take comfort from the fact that the latest person to die from the virus, was already ill? “Never mind. If ‘corona’ hadn’t of gotten ’em, something else would. I’ll be alright!”.

In a way, I suppose we are all a little guilty of this. Have you ever caught a news headline, stating that a suicide bomber has blown himself up, killing seventy civilians? Your ears prick up at the awful news and you start to listen in horror… until you hear that the attack took place in Kabal.

Even the most humanitarian of individuals would find it difficult to distance themselves from this attitude. Look at the British sadness over the Manchester Arena Attack, compared to when a school in Syria is bombed. Both equally horrific. We cannot even justify this by telling ourselves that the Manchester attack was in the UK – not while we (rightly) continue to remember those who died on September 11th.

All life should be equal and all death treated as a tragedy – whether the deceased was rich or poor, already unwell or healthy, in London or Libya.

So, next time you read that somebody has died of coronavirus and that they had a pre-existing health condition, spare a thought for their loved ones – it certainly won’t matter to them that their father or mother, husband or wife, son or daughter was not fully fitness.