Kate Garraway's husband coronavirus-free but facing year in coma

By Neil Wilkes, Editor-in-chief

Published: June 5 2020 | 20:56

Last updated: June 6 2020 | 01:04

Kate Garraway reveals that her husband Derek Draper is now free of coronavirus but faces up to a year in a coma after his body suffered extensive damage while fighting the disease.

Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has revealed that her seriously ill husband Derek Draper has now tested negative for coronavirus.

The 52-year-old was admitted to intensive care more than nine weeks ago after contracting COVID-19 and has remained in a critical condition since.

Giving her first interview since Draper's diagnosis on GMB this morning, Garraway explained that although he is now free of the virus, it has caused extensive damage to his body and his prognosis remains uncertain.

Draper has now been in a medically-induced coma for many weeks and Garraway confirmed that it could be "up to a year" before doctors attempt to bring him round.

"They are incredible with what they have done with a disease that nobody knows how to cure though they are learning every day," she said.

"Derek's situation is incredibly rare. The damage he's sustained and we don't know the effect on his body and if he can recover and how he would recover. Some of the damage he's got, he's only one in five people they've seen with it.

"One doctor said to me he is the worst affected person he's seen who has survived. He has seen the same in other patients but they have all died.

"Thank God he has lived so far and I am so grateful for that but they don't know what they are looking at and what the damage is to his body. They have some idea what it would be if it was some other illness but they don't know with COVID."

More than 283,000 people in the UK have now tested positive for coronavirus and today it was confirmed that the country has passed the grim milestone of 40,000 deaths due to the disease.