More than a dozen members of the same family in Texas have tested positive for coronavirus after a family reunion where most, if not all, attendees were not wearing masks.
A family member told NBC News in an interview that one person died and another is on life support after a party in mid-June led 14 family members to test positive for the virus. Tony Green, who organized the party for his parents, told NBC that he woke up with symptoms the morning after the meeting.
“We felt that the worst was behind the country because everything was easy, things were reopening and none of us had any symptoms,” he told NBC.
Green did not provide the names of his family members, but told NBC News that an older family member, his partner’s grandmother, had died after contracting the disease. Green’s father-in-law remains on life support.
Since then, Green has launched a GoFundMe to help pay for his father-in-law’s medical expenses, although it later closed after Green said his family members rejected the money.
He told NBC News that he regretted his decision to organize the meeting for his parents.
“I can’t help but feel responsible to convince our families that it was safe to have a reunion,” Green said in the interview, adding: “I just don’t think people are really paying enough attention to security protocols and things that they can do to protect themselves a little better. “
Texas has seen its rate of new coronavirus cases increase in recent weeks and last week issued a new order to stay home as officials try to control the spread of the disease.
The state has now recorded nearly 400,000 cases of the virus and more than 5,000 deaths.
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