Healthy 25-Year-Old Who Took Every Precaution Dies Of Coronavirus
ACROSS AMERICA — "I don't want to die, mom."
Those were the last words Diane Willett heard from her 25-year-old son, Christopher Willett, before he died of the coronavirus.
Diane Willett told Fox her son took every precaution to protect himself from the virus as an employee at a local deli in Knoxville, Tennessee. During the pandemic, he would only go to work and his cousin's house, his mother told the news station, and always wore a mask.
"He always worried about bringing it home to us," Diane Willett said, adding that her son would sometimes still have his mask on even after coming home from work.
Still, Christopher Willett fell ill in early December and was hospitalized with severe symptoms on Dec. 14.
Less than a week later, he died.
Christopher Willett always held a job despite his challenges with Asperger's syndrome and ADHD, his mother told Fox. "He was an avid video gamer, and he loved his animals, and he greatly enjoyed reading," according to his obituary from the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
"Twenty-five years old, never really been sick," Diana Willett said while urging people to wear a mask as a way to prevent the virus's further spread.
"It’s so easy to put something over your mouth and nose while in public," she said. "It doesn't hurt and, as a matter of fact, it helps."
The Latest
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released details on what is known about the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant that was first found in the United Kingdom as first cases are reported in more states. There's nothing to suggest the variant increases the severity of the illness, the CDC said.
"New information about the virologic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of these variants is rapidly emerging," the CDC website states.
The variant has now been identified in five states and 33 countries, including the United States and Canada. An 18-year-old Georgia man with no recent travel history was the first case reported in the Peach State on Tuesday. The other states so far reporting the variant were Colorado, New York, California and Florida.
Preliminary epidemiologic information suggests that this variant is significantly more contagious, health experts have said. But so far, there is no evidence that the B.1.1.7 variant causes more severe illness or increased risk of death.
As the epicenter of the virus in the United States remains in California, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said a new confirmed case is being reported in the county every six seconds.
"This is something now that really is spreading in the home," Garcetti said on "Face The Nation." "It's a message for all of America: We might not all have the same density as L.A., but what's happening in L.A. can and will be coming in many communities in America."
Some funeral homes there have had to turn away grieving families because there is not enough space for all the bodies, The Associated Press and others have reported.
"I've been in the funeral industry for 40 years, and never in my life did I think that this could happen, that I'd have to tell a family, 'No, we can't take your family member,'" Magda Maldonado, owner of Continental Funeral Home in Los Angeles, told the AP.
Hospitals there are on the verge of a collapse. Paramedics have even been told not to transport patients who do not have a low likelihood of survival.
On Tuesday, deaths from the virus nationwide topped 3,000 for the first time in 2021, according to data from The Washington Post. The day's toll is the highest since a record 3,862 coronavirus deaths were reported Dec. 30.
The total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic topped 21 million on Tuesday.
The virus's spread continues to make an impact on professional sports, and on the upcoming National Football League playoffs. Kevin Stefanski, head coach of the Cleveland Browns, had a positive test reported on Tuesday. The team had already reported six positive cases among players in recent weeks.
The Browns are in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, with a game against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers still on the slate for Sunday night.
The increasing spread has focused more-urgent attention on delivering the vaccine against the virus. On Sunday, a top official for Operation Warp Speed floated one possible solution to protect Americans: halving the dose of each Moderna vaccine to potentially double the number of people who could receive it.
Data from Moderna's clinical trials showed that people between the ages of 18 and 55 who received two 50-microgram doses showed an "identical immune response" to the standard of two 100-microgram doses, said Dr. Moncef Slaoui.
Natalie Dean, a biostatistician at the University of Florida, agreed that there might be more data to support a vaccine strategy that relied on half-doses rather than delayed doses.
"There is a path forward if you can show that two lower doses yield a similar immune response," Dean told the New York Times.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said the country could soon provide vaccine doses to 1 million people a day, the AP reported Tuesday.
“Anytime you start a big program, there’s always glitches," Fauci said. "I think the glitches have been worked out.”
So far, federal officials have failed to outline a plan for distributing vaccines to U.S. states.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that fines could be levied against hospitals that do not use up their vaccine supply by the end of the week, Reuters and others have reported. Those hospitals also risk getting cut off from future vaccine supplies, the governor said.
And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that any hospital chain failing to meet its vaccination goals will have its doses taken away and given to facilities that will distribute them more quickly.
Newest Numbers
At least 3,478 deaths and 219,961 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases increased by 24.5 percent, new daily deaths rose by 20.1 percent and new coronavirus-related hospitalizations increased by 6.1 percent.
Currently, more than 131,195 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, more than ever before, according to the Covid Tracking Project.
As of Wednesday, 48 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. Only Vermont, Hawaii and the District of Columbia are currently below that rate. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.
As of Wednesday morning, the United States had reported more than 21 million cases and more than 357,4600 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
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This article originally appeared on the Across America Patch
