A Cumbrian nurse has died with coronavirus.

The announcement made by NHS North Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group said that Chris Buckingham, a nurse in the Continuing Health Care Team, had passed away with the virus.

Mr Buckingham had joined the CCG in March last year and was well known in the health and social care community.

He had worked at A+E at the Cumberland Infirmary, Keswick Community Hospital and Scarborough Hospitals after a nursing career that started in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

A statement released by the CCG said: "It is with great sadness we pay tribute to our friend and colleague Chris Buckingham who has passed away with covid.

"Our thoughts are with his partner Louise, and his two brothers Duncan and Craig."

Louise Mason-Lodge, director of nursing and quality for NHS North Cumbria CCG, said: “Chris was very highly regarded by his team and by those that came into contact with him. He was a cheerful, hard-working and kind man who was supportive to his colleagues and cared about the individuals he worked with.

“He was always first to volunteer to support his colleagues when needed. Chris truly reflected the core values of nursing and I was proud to have known him.

“There are no words sufficient to describe our loss. Our Nursing and Quality team and the NECS CHC team are devastated by the news, and our wider CCG will feel his loss deeply.”

Chris’s family, Louise, Craig and Duncan said: “It is sad that Chris contracted Covid, but so typical that he did so doing his duty and giving his time and effort to others as he did through his nursing, Royal Army Medical Corps, and previously with Swaledale Mountain Rescue.”

Tributes have already been received from his many work colleagues, as well as friends and colleagues in the Mountain Rescue and the Wainwright Society, among others.

The family have asked for donations in Chris’s memory to the Nenthead Mining Conservation Society which can be done by clicking the donate button on their website at www.nentheadmines.com

Chris’s NHS family will be holding a minute’s silence to honour his memory.