Alvaro, 44, and Sylvia Fernandez, 42, passed away within hours of each other after contracting the virus.
In a heartbreaking story from California, a couple of 25 years passed away from coronavirus on the same day earlier this month. Alvaro, 44, and Sylvia Fernandez, 42, died from complications from coronavirus within hours of each other on December 19, leaving behind four kids. Alvaro and Sylvia were high-school sweethearts and they were married for 25 years before they passed away within hours of each other earlier this month, reported KNBC. "Their love story began as High School sweethearts at the tender age of fifteen. Their love grew over the years as their family grew, adding amazing children to their lives (Emily, Daniel, Destinee, and Nicholas). This great love story sadly ended hours apart from each other. One couldn’t live without the other," read the description of a GoFundMe campaign started in their name.
The couple's relatives said they both had underlying health conditions including diabetes. The couple was also unvaccinated which possibly lowered their chances of overcoming the virus. They were apprehensive and wanted more information on the vaccine, said a relative. "He wanted to wait and do more research," said Alma Hernandez, Alvaro's sister. She also added that the deaths of Alvaro and Sylvia have now influenced others in the family to get vaccinated as well. Their death was a shock to them and especially to those who hadn't taken the vaccine shots and were hoping to ride it out. "This is kind of an eye-opener for everybody in my family that whoever is not vaccinated definitely should have their vaccinations," she told KNBC.
The campaign has successfully raised more than $13,000 to help the children navigate life without their parents. "Destinee and Nicholas are only 17 years old. This will be a loss felt for a very long time. They are left without their parents and have to carry the weight of being pushed into adulthood while their still children themselves," read the GoFundMe campaign description.
The new coronavirus variant, Omicron, has America and many parts of the world, in its grip. The country reported nearly half a million positive cases, a new record for daily infections. The United States reported 488,000 cases of the virus on Wednesday, according to a New York Times database. The total number of cases is likely to be heavily under-reported with the rise in the popularity of home tests. The alarming rate at which the cases are rising is worrying health experts. New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks, eclipsing the old mark of 250,000, set in mid-January during the height of the last winter peak of the pandemic, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen, even at the peak of the prior surges of Covid,” said Dr. James Phillips, chief of disaster medicine at George Washington University Hospital, reported CNN. New Jersey, New York, and Chicago are some of the states reporting record cases. Health experts are warning America to prepare and brace for the wave. “We are going to see the number of cases in this country rise so dramatically, we are going to have a hard time keeping everyday life operating,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. “The next month is going to be a viral blizzard. All of society is going to be pressured by this.” Coronavirus deaths are averaging 1,200 per day to around 1,500 over the past few weeks, reported The Guardian. According to the World Health Organisation, coronavirus cases worldwide increased 11% last week from the week before, with nearly 4.99m recorded December 20-26.
Disclaimer: Information about the pandemic is swiftly changing, and Women Working is committed to providing the most recent and verified updates in our articles and reportage. However, considering the frequency of developments, some of the information/data in this article may have changed since the time of publication. Therefore, we encourage you to also regularly check online resources from local public health departments, the Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization.
References:
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/coronavirus/southern-california-coronavirus/couple-dies-same-day-covid-vaccine-unvaccinated-loma-linda/2787838/
https://www.gofundme.com/f/alvaro-sylvias-memorial-family-support
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/30/world/omicron-covid-vaccine-tests
https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/30/health/us-coronavirus-thursday/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/30/us-new-daily-covid-cases-record-omicron-spreads
Cover image source: GoFundMe
