The daughter of a man killed by Covid-19 has demanded to know how he caught it in Craigavon Area Hospital.
John Fleming, 79, from Co Armagh, died on Thursday.
The cancer sufferer was one of two people who died at the hospital in recent days after contracting coronavirus.
A third patient, who had been discharged, also tested positive and died, although Covid-19 was not the primary cause of death.
Mr Fleming’s daughter Yvonne Stewart said: “He fought really hard but said, ‘It’s not the cancer killing me, it’s Covid’.
He asked me to tell his story because he doesn’t want another family to go through what we have been through.”
Ms Stewart added her father suffered from bone cancer and had been given a life expectancy of 10 years.
She told the BBC: “What we would like to know is how the virus got through the hospital’s defences into his ward. We can’t get our head round it.”
Health Minister Robin Swann described the deaths as “extremely distressing and disturbing”, and called for a “thorough and expeditious investigation”.
The Southern Trust announced said in a statement yesterday: “We are profoundly sorry about these deaths and extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of those who have passed away.”
