17 of family have coronavirus after attending funeral of relative who died from illness: 'This has destroyed us'
A British family has reported the horror when 17 of its members tested positive for the novel coronavirus after attending the funeral of a relative who died of the COVID-19 disease. Now, the embattled family is urging people to take social distancing measures seriously.
According to a report by the South West News Service, almost the entire extended family of 86-year-old Sheila Brooks attended her funeral two weeks ago after she died on February 9. Within days of the service, Brooks's niece Susan Nelson, 65, also died of the illness despite having no underlying health issues, per the New York Post.
It wasn't long before 16 other relatives also fell ill, according to the news outlet, with Nelson’s husband, daughter Amanda, 34, a niece and a great-uncle testing positive for COVID-19 just days after attending the service in Yardley Wood.
Amanda, who also suffers from Addison’s disease, an adrenal insufficiency, is currently self-isolating at home.
“It was my [great] aunt’s funeral so a lot of the wider family were there,” she told the South West News Service.
“She died back in February, but we have just had so many people contract the virus that I can only think it was from then. We now have someone else in our family in hospital that’s probably not going to survive it,” she continued.
“My 21-year-old cousin has it, right the way up to a great-uncle that is 88 and is showing some symptoms. It’s a whole section of us, none of us seems to have been missed out of it just yet. It’s a bit strange,” she said.
“I would say around 17 family members have been displaying symptoms since going to that funeral. It’s hit young and old in our family,” Amanda added. “Our beautiful, caring mum was the center of the family. We are a very close, large family and this has destroyed us.”
Nelson was admitted at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on March 23, her son Carl, 42, revealed.
“She was coughing a lot, very breathless and showing all the traditional symptoms,” he said. “They said the next 48 hours were critical before they called me back a few hours later to say it was very close to the end and one member of the family could be with her."
“Because I had none of the symptoms, I couldn’t go and my sister was too unwell battling the illness herself,” Carl continued. “People can end up dying on their own. Fortunately, my dad Robert was able to go and be with her when she died.”
“We can’t have any other families to go through what we are going through at the moment," he added. "It’s about getting the message out. It’s about seeing the faces of loved ones and thinking this is real."
The U.K. has recorded 19,821 confirmed cases with 1,418 deaths as of Monday afternoon, according to data by John Hopkins.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently tested positive for the coronavirus and is currently undergoing treatment in quarantine.
Meanwhile, royal aides have revealed that Prince Charles is out of self-isolation and in "good health" a week after contracting COVID-19.