Britain's Covid-19 fundraiser Captain Tom in hospital with virus

Tom Moore, the 100-year-old World War II veteran who captivated the British public in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with his fundraising efforts, has been hospitalised with COVID-19, his daughter said.

Hannah Ingram-Moore revealed in a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday that her father, widely known as Captain Tom, has been admitted to Bedford Hospital because he needed “additional help” with his breathing.

She said that over the past few weeks her father had been treated for pneumonia and that he had tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

She said he is being treated in a ward, not in an intensive care unit.

“The medical care he has received in the last few weeks has been remarkable and we know that the wonderful staff at Bedford Hospital will do all they can to make him comfortable and hopefully return home as soon as possible,” she said.

Fundraising efforts

Moore became an emblem of hope in the early weeks of the pandemic in April when he walked 100 laps around his garden in England for the National Health Service to coincide with his 100th birthday. Instead of the $1,370 (1,000 pounds) aspiration, he raised around $45 million (33 million pounds).

Moore, who rose to the rank of captain while serving in India and Burma during the war, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in July for his fundraising efforts.

Best wishes came in from far and wide, including from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said in a tweet that Moore had "inspired the whole nation, and I know we are all wishing you a full recovery.”

Britain has vaccinated nearly 9 million people against the coronavirus, with the over-80s in one of the top priority groups. But Sky News quoted a family representative as saying Moore had not yet received a vaccine because he was being treated for pneumonia.