13-year-old girl in Brampton dies after testing positive for COVID-19
Brampton #Brampton
A 13-year-old Brampton girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19, becoming one of the youngest victims of the virus in Ontario.
A GoFundMe created by a friend of the family, Adrian Goddard, said Emily Victoria Viegas died on April 22.
Goddard told Global News he was a friend of Viegas’ father, Carlos Viegas through ball hockey and that he had met Emily a few times over the years.
He said Emily’s mother is also in the ICU with COVID-19.
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Goddard said Carlos is at the family’s home in Brampton quarantining with his son, who also tested positive. Carlos was the only one who did not test positive, Goddard said.
The Globe and Mail, who first reported the story, said the family lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Brampton.
On Sunday, Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown tweeted his condolences to the family.
“This is beyond heart wrenching. As a parent, I am lost for words. Horrifying,” he tweeted. “We can never underestimated the seriousness of COVID-19 and the variants.”
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie echoed Brown’s sentiments shortly after.
“My deepest condolences to Emily Viegas’ parents, family and friends. To lose someone so young to this virus is truly heartbreaking,” she wrote on Twitter.
Read more: ‘Assume that they might have COVID’: Peel’s top doctor says after 22% test positivity in Brampton
A spokesman with Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board confirms that one of its students recently died from the novel coronavirus.
The school board says it’s focusing on supporting staff and students who have been hit by the loss.
Peel Region has been one of the hardest hit regions throughout the coronavirus pandemic, in Brampton especially. Last week, the region’s medical officer of health said residents should assume everyone has COVID as the city’s positivity rate hit over 22 per cent.
–With files from The Canadian Press