A 91-YEAR-OLD woman died at a Wordsley care home after contracting COVID-19 following a hospital stay for a fractured hip.

Zona Ashmore passed away at Wordsley Hall care home where she was a resident after her condition deteriorated after a stay in hospital where she underwent a partial hip replacement.

Wordsley-born Mrs Ashmore passed away on April 7 – having been admitted to hospital on March 11 when staff at the care home found her on the floor after the crash alarm mat at the side of her bed was activated.

Black Country coroner Zafar Siddique said that after undergoing surgery Mrs Ashmore, a widow who had dementia, “initially seemed to be making good progress but then started to deteriorate when she was back at the care home".

She was tested for COVID-19 and was put into isolation back at the care home but she continued to decline and passed away.

Mr Siddique gave COVID-19 as the cause of death - plus the fractured femur and dementia – and he said: “She developed COVID-19 when she was back at care home but all of this was precipitated by the initial fall and the fracture - and she never really recovered. Her condition declined very rapidly afterwards and made her more susceptible to developing infections.”

He offered his condolences to Mrs Ashmore’s family and he concluded: “This was an accidental death and she developed complications of an infection of COVID-19.”