A nurse who worked for the NHS in London for over 40 years has died from coronavirus aged 70.
Hong Kong-born Alice Kit Tag Ong, who arrived in the UK in the 1970s, has been described by her daughter Melissa as "completely dedicated".
Melissa believes the tragic front line worker became infected with Covid-19 after being forced to treat patients at GP surgeries without protective equipment.
Mrs Ong was just 23 when she came to London to study nursing and at 70 was still working full-time at two surgeries.
She also ran baby clinics until contracting the killer bug, leading her to quarantine at home.
But an ambulance was eventually for called for when she began struggling to breathe a fortnight ago.
Mrs Ong then sadly died on Tuesday at the Royal Free hospital in London.
Melissa, 37, said her mum was continuing to care for others right up "until the moment she was taken ill”.
“She loved her job and she loved her patients,” she told the Guardian.
Mrs Ong had initially worked as a midwife after joining the NHS before becoming a diabetic specialist nurse and then working in the community for the last two decades.
Her colleague Dr Amrit Lamba said the late nurse was known as 'Kit' at work and while she had mentioned potential retirement he believed she would never have given up her passion.
The GP at the Colindale medical centre in Barnet where Mrs Ong was a practice nurse, said: "Even at the end of her career, she was up-to-date on every development and sharing her wisdom with the practice."
He added that she would be sorely missed.
Jacqui Tonge, the practice manager at Mrs Ong's other surgery, the Greenfield medical centre, said her late colleague was a "great mentor and role model for junior nurses".
Mrs Tonge added the practice had "lost a friend" as well as an excellent team member.
Her family believe she may have contracted the virus while working in the doctors’ surgeries due to the lack of PPE, but Melissa said: “We’ve accepted it, she was doing what she loved.”
Melissa and Marcus, Mrs Ong's husband who she met in London in 1977, were not allowed to visit her in hospital due to Marcus's age and pre-existing health issues.
Nonetheless, Melissa moved to praise staff at the Royal Free who "kept us in touch right up to the last moment".
She said the family had received hordes of tribute messages since her mum's passing.
