The sister of coronavirus victim Billy Allan, 67, from Newtownards, has described the pain of being unable to say goodbye.
Joan Fulton told UTV Live: “That number had a face, and it’s the face of my brother Billy. My brother Billy is the number three person who has lost his life – yesterday morning at 3am – to this virus.
“Why am I sharing this? Because this is the hardest journey I’ve ever been on.”
She added: “This virus is just ripping families apart. When my brother left his house on Friday night he thought he had a chest infection and he went into the hospital. I didn’t know, or the family didn’t know, we wouldn’t be seeing Billy again.
“We couldn’t be with Billy, we couldn’t say goodbye, we couldn’t be there, we can’t even be together to bury Billy.”
Mr Allan had suffered from underlying heart and lung problems.
This is Billy Allan. He was 67 and from Newtownards. Yesterday morning he died from COVID-19. On this evening's @UTV Live at Six his sister Joan tells of her family's heartache at not being able to say goodbye, or be at his graveside. pic.twitter.com/G8w7YqO6Vh
— Paul Reilly (@Paul_UTV) March 24, 2020
“Billy had his own mobile phone and while he was still able to talk, the family was able to communicate.
“He was told on Saturday that he wasn’t going to make it.
“We couldn’t be with Billy. We couldn’t say goodbye. We couldn’t be there.”
Joan said the funeral restrictions imposed during the coronavirus crisis meant that her family will not be able to lay Billy to rest in the normal way tomorrow.
Ms Fulton had a stark message for those failing to heed social distancing rules.
“Stop thinking about you, stop thinking about you,” she said.
“But think about others. This disease will kill many, if you don’t act properly – stay at home. That’s a simple message.”
Five people who had tested positive for the coronavirus have now died in Northern Ireland.
Earlier today, the family of an 82-year-old woman who died in hospital from coronavirus spoke of their heartache.
Ruth Burke died in Antrim Area Hospital at 7.30pm yesterday.
She was the fourth person in Northern Ireland to die from the virus.
Her daughter Brenda Doherty posted on Facebook earlier today that her mother had died.
In a highly emotional interview, Ms Doherty told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme today her mother developed a very high temperature several days ago and tested positive for Covid-19.
"She was the queen of our family. She had five children - Jennifer, me, Paul, Richard and Colum. Richard died when he was 16 years of age of a brain tumour," she said.
"Mum was a really strong woman and managed to cope with that."
