A 12-YEAR-OLD girl with a rare genetic disorder who was described as a “beautiful soul” tragically died days after contracting coronavirus, an inquest has heard.

Fabiana Zoppelli, who was born in Italy and lived in Oldham, developed a cough on June 1, 2020 but her condition worsened and her mum Itohan Ehigie contacted her GP.

A rash had appeared and Fabiana began vomiting with Itohan advised to take her daughter to the Royal Oldham Hospital on the afternoon of June 4, 2020.

Upon admission, it was suspected Fabiana, who had Floating Harbor Syndrome, had Covid-19 and a PCR test was taken.

At Rochdale Coroner’s Court, coroner Nicholas Flanagan said Fabiana’s health deteriorated and she was placed on the high dependency ward and treated with oxygen due to breathing difficulties.

Chest X-rays were carried out which showed there was an increase of fluid on her lungs.

She was transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital on June 6, 2020 to drain the fluid on her lungs but Fabiana’s condition continued to worsen following the procedure.

Talks were held on whether to transfer her to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital to have more specialist treatment but she then suffered a cardiac arrest.

A number of doctors tried to save her but she died.

At Fabiana’s inquest, Mr Flanagan considered concerns raised by a nurse about her condition in hospital on the night of June 5, 2020 but it was decided extra medical intervention was not taken until the following morning.

It also took until around 9am on June 6, 2020 for clinicians to be informed about Fabiana testing positive for Covid-19.

Mr Flanagan said there were no signs of medical neglect though and accepted the pressures staff were under during the pandemic at that time.

Consultant paediatrician and clinical director at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Prakash Kamath, said lessons had been learnt from the tragedy and changes had been made to escalate incidents.

A post-mortem examination found Fabiana’s cause of death was paediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by coronavirus. Floating Harbor Syndrome was listed as a contributory factor.

Mr Flanagan accepting the cause of death and recorded a conclusion of natural causes. He offered his condolences to the family.

After her death last year, New Bridge Academy in Hollinwood, where Fabiana attended, described her as “a beautiful soul”.

Head teacher Gavin Lyons said the news had come as a "huge shock to all of us who knew her as a bright young girl with a vibrant energy and a beautiful smile".