Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab, thought to be youngest victim in England, died in the capital on Monday

A 13-year-old boy with no apparent underlying health conditions has died after testing positive for coronavirus, his family has said.

Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab from Brixton, south London, died in hospital in the early hours of Monday. He had tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, a day after he was admitted to King’s College hospital, his family said.

Mark Stephenson, a family friend, said the boy’s mother and six siblings are now awaiting the results of a postmortem.

A spokesman for King’s College hospital NHS foundation trust said: “Sadly, a 13-year old boy who tested positive for Covid-19 has passed away, and our thoughts and condolences are with the family at this time.

“The death has been referred to the coroner and no further comment will be made.”

Following the release of the latest official figures, a 19-year-old was believed to be England’s youngest victim to have died in hospital with no existing medical issues.

Ismail’s family said they were “beyond devastated” by his death, in a statement released through Stephenson.

“Ismail started showing symptoms and had difficulties breathing and was admitted to King’s College hospital,” the family said.

“He was put on a ventilator and then put into an induced coma but sadly died yesterday morning. To our knowledge he had no underlying health conditions. We are beyond devastated.”

Dr Simon Clarke from the University of Reading said: “While the old are much more likely to die from coronavirus infection, the young are certainly not immune from it.

“This is a reminder that we must take the advice of health officials seriously to stay at home, wash hands, and keep well away from all other people. The message so far has seemed to be that by following the guidance, you might save the life of a cherished parent or grandparent. This case could yet remind us that staying home could also save the life of a cherished child or grandchild too.”

Dr Nathalie MacDermott, from King’s College London, said: “It is very sad to hear of the death of a 13-year-old infected with Covid-19. While we know it is much less likely for children to suffer severe Covid-19 infection than older adults, this case highlights the importance of us all taking the precautions we can to reduce the spread of infection in the UK and worldwide.

“It is essential that we undertake research to determine why a proportion of deaths occur outside of the groups expected to succumb to infection as it may indicate an underlying genetic susceptibility of how the immune system interacts with the virus. Determining if this is the case could help us to learn more about the interaction of the virus with the immune system and subsequently what further treatments may be suitable in patients with severe infection.”

Stephenson, college director at the Madinah College where Ismail’s sister works, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral costs. The page says: “Sadly he died without any family members close by due to the highly infectious nature of Covid-19.”

By Tuesday evening more than £28,000 had been raised, far exceeding the £4,000 target.