THE OLDER brother of Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson has died after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus.
Mr Anderson’s oldest sibling had been admitted to Liverpool Hospital’s intensive care unit with Covid-19 prior to his sad passing.
The politician confirmed the tragic news in a statement issued on Twitter in which the Liverpool Mayor urged the people of Merseyside to “follow the rules”.
Mr Anderson’s brother died at 22:45 BST this past Friday.
The announcement comes just a few days after Liverpool was placed in tier three of the UK government’s new lockdown system, following a rise in case numbers across the area.
Under the rules, which represent the strictest available under the new system, pubs not serving meals have been required to stay closed along with gyms, leisure centres, betting shops and casinos.
Writing on social media, the Mayor of Liverpool paid tribute to those who treated his brother and made him as comfortable as possible during his time there.
"We want to thank the dedicated [hospital] staff risking their lives for us,"” he said.
"Thank you all for your messages of love and support. Let's stick together and support each other and win this battle."
Despite the efforts of all the staff @LivHospitals ICU my brother sadly died at 10.45 last night We want to thank the dedicated staff risking their lives for us.Thank you all for your messages of love and support Let’s stick together and support each other and win this battle💙❤️
— Joe Anderson (@joeando58) October 17, 2020
Liverpool has been hit with increased restrictions following a week in which the city recorded the highest number of cases in the whole of England with 3,204 Covid-19 patients recorded.
That figure represents a slight increase on the 3,191 cases registered a week before.
Earlier this week, footage surfaced showing large crowds gathered in the centre of the city in the hours before the new lockdown rules came into effect.
Mr Anderson was among those to condemn the footage, saying they "shame our city" and warning that "our health service is creaking".
