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Tributes have poured in for a “dedicated” and “kind-hearted” London nurse, who died two days after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus.

Melujean Ballesteros, 60, who is originally from the Philippines, died at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington on Sunday, after self-isolating with Covid-19 symptoms.

Her son Rainier Ballesteros, 37, said his mother had suffered a fever and cough in mid-March and self-isolated for nine days.

But on Friday he and his family convinced the 60-year-old to seek help as her condition worsened.

She was picked up by an ambulance and admitted to the hospital in which she had spent more than a decade working. She died two days later.

“My mum is a dedicated and very caring nurse,” the 37-year-old, who lives in Calauag in the Philippines, said.

“She started her career in the UK in 2003, she loved her work as a nurse.”

Mrs Ballesteros is survived by Rainier and his brother Bryan, 38, who also lives in the Philippines, and husband Luis, 64, who lives in the UK.

Her colleague Faz Ghooloo, a fellow nurse at the Imperial College NHS Trust, set up a GoFundMe page to cover the costs of her funeral.

In an emotional message on the fundraising site, Ms Ghooloo wrote that the mother-of-two had dedicated her life to nursing and the National Health Service – spending more than 12 years at St Mary’s.

She wrote: “Melujean was a kind hearted person who dedicated her life to her profession as a nurse. She always had a smile and she never complained about anything.

“Right now it is a difficult time for the NHS but this never slowed her down. She was always ready to look after patients with care, kindness and compassion. Unfortunately both time and the Covid-19 virus has defeated her and we have lost one of our own.

“Although this breaks our heart knowing that she will not be with us but what we have to remember is that she will always be a part of us. In her memory today, we would like your kind and generous donation to allow us to give her the best goodbye to one of our NHS hero, with pride and honour the great work she has done.

“We say goodbye to her today but we will never forget about her and every little things that were unique to her like her cheese cake, her food, her smile, her generosity, her hard work, her kindness, her humbleness, her tenacity, her support and many other countless talents that she had.”

The news follows the deaths of two Filipino porters from John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, Oscar King Jr and Elbert Rico, who died on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Filipino nurse Leilani Dayrit, who worked at St Cross Hospital in Rugby, died on April 7.

A Commons library report published last year found that more than 18,000 Filipinos work in the NHS, third only to the numbers from Britain and India.

Philippine ambassador Antonio Lagdameo, said: “Filipino health workers have served tirelessly and courageously at the frontlines of the war against this pandemic, and their contribution to the ongoing effort to save lives is nothing but immense.

“The escalation of confirmed Covid-19 cases and Covid-19-related deaths point out the undeniable truth that this disease is an existential threat even to the most healthy and fit among us.”