'Inspirational and much-loved' midwife, 30, and 'vibrant' 42-year-old mental health nurse from the same hospital both die of coronavirus

• Safaa Alam, 30, passed away yesterday after contracting the virus while working
• Described as 'kind and compassionate' and a valued member of the team 
• Mrs Alam worked at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital for six years 
• Senior nurse Lillian Mudzivare, 42, passed away after a lengthy battle with virus  
• The 'much-loved' nurse lived with her husband, Moses, and their daughters

An 'inspirational and much-loved midwife' and a 'vibrant' mental health nurse from the same hospital have both died from coronavirus.

Tributes were paid to Safaa Alam, 30, and Lillian Mudzivare, 42, who both passed away yesterday after contracting the infection while working at Birmingham Women's Hospital.

Mrs Alam, whose father Mushtaq Afsar died two weeks ago, had been a midwife there for six years after beginning her career as a nurse and was described as 'kind and compassionate' and a valued member of the team.

Her colleague Ms Mudzivare, who lived with her husband, Moses, and their daughters in Birmingham, was a 'much-loved member of our team whose bubbly, vibrant and bright approach touched the lives of everyone who knew her,' the trust’s chief executive, Sarah-Jane Marsh, told The Guardian.

Safaa Alam, above, 30, passed away following treatment for coronavirus. She worked as a midwife at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital for six years  

The senior mental health nurse had worked at the hospital for two-and-a-half years.

Mrs Alam's husband Shazad said today: 'Saf was my beautiful and full-of-life wife. 

'She was very passionate about her job as a midwife and would often dedicate more than what was required.Shazad said the midwife was his 'childhood sweetheart', with the pair growing up together before marrying four years ago.

He added: 'My years with Saf have been filled with love, fun and adventure; this was just the beginning of our lives together, her passing has been premature.

'She has left an empty feeling and space in my life and for many others which will take a long time to heal but I will remember her with love for her courage, patience and kindness.'

'Whenever we visited family or friends she would naturally lean towards any children and create lasting fun activities with them full of laughter and happiness.'

Lillian Mudzivare, above, 41, a senior mental health nurse at Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital passed away this week following a lengthy battle with Covid-19

The hospital told how Mrs Alam's passion for patient safety and risk management enabled her to progress to the specialist role of risk management midwife.

They said she took pride in supporting her colleagues to maintain safety, standards of care and lead improvement of services for women, babies and families.

Ms Marsh said: 'Safaa was an amazing midwife whose skills and expertise helped to bring hundreds of new lives in to the world, whilst supporting women on their journey to motherhood.

'We promise to continue to uphold Safaa's values and commitment to safe maternity care, wrapped up in the kindness and compassion she exemplified.

'Our thoughts and prayers are with her husband and family as they come to terms with their devastating loss. May you rest in peace Safaa and may God bless you and your loved ones always.'

The hospital, above, told how Safaa's passion for patient safety and risk management enabled her to progress to the specialist role of risk management midwife (file photo)

Rachel Carter, Head of Midwifery, said: 'Safaa was loved by all of us here at Birmingham Women's.

'Not only was she generous with her time, approachable, and extremely hard-working; a true role model, but she was also a dear friend and the glue to our team.

'To watch Safaa work was inspiring, she provided women, babies and families with exceptional care and did this with the greatest level of compassion, putting everyone she worked with at ease. 

'Our memories of Safaa will always be cherished, and we'll greatly miss her strength and positive outlook on life.'

In other developments to the coronavirus crisis today: 

• Liverpool became the first English city to refuse to return children to school next month as the Government faced a growing row over its plan to restart lessons;
• Sadiq Khan was accused of risking lives and forcing people on to the Tube where social distancing is 'impossible' because of a lack of trains after he brought back the central London congestion charge from Monday;
• Just 1,500 coronavirus contact tracers had been appointed by the start of this week, a Cabinet minister admitted - despite the government promising to have 18,000 recruited by mid-May;
• Number 10 admitted lockdowns could be eased on a region-by-region basis, on the back of promising data that suggested just 24 people a day are being struck down with the coronavirus in London;
• Africa will escape a huge death toll from COVID-19 because its population is young and fit - but one in five people on the continent will still catch the coronavirus, the World Health Organization predicted;
• Hopes a coronavirus cure could be on the horizon were raised after an experimental Oxford University jab showed promising signs in trials on monkeys;
• Coronavirus has tipped Germany into a recession, with the country suffering its steepest quarterly contraction in more than a decade official data showed.

A Go Fund Me page has been set up to try to raise money to help support charities close to the family's hearts after Safaa's father also passed away recently.

It reads: 'As some of you maybe aware our dearest Safaa Alam has passed away. Safaa was a daughter, wife, sister, cousin, and friend. She dedicated her life to helping others, a highly respected midwife who helped bring new life into this world.

'Safaa will be sadly missed by all that knew her. Safaa had only recently been dealing with the tragedy of her Father's passing some few weeks before. We ask of you to dig deep for charity in their names which will be of value to them in the hereafter.'

In a statement, Ms Mudzivare's family said: 'Lillian was such a beautiful mother, wife and friend - she was always there for others.

'She loved her children, her family and friends dearly and was a very proud nurse always caring for those who needed her help.

We are all devastated to lose such a wonderful person; she will always be in our thoughts.'

Elaine Kirwan, Deputy Chief Nurse for Mental Health Services, said: 'We are so sad at Lillian's passing - she was a much loved member of the team. We were so proud when Lillian joined our team.

'She was an amazing, talented nurse. Her care and compassion for patients shone through, she was a beautiful person, great friend, loved by us all.

'We will all miss Lillian for her exuberance and we will miss how she would cheer all of us up, lifting spirits whenever we were down.'

Ms Marsh added: 'Her commitment to the mental health and well-being of young people always shone through and she was working hard towards becoming an advanced practitioner where she knew she would be able to make even more of a difference.

'Lillian, thank you for everything you did for the young people of Birmingham, our thoughts are with your husband and beautiful children now and always.'  

There have been 33,998 confirmed deaths caused by coronavirus in the UK, with more than 237,000 cases so far this year.