A 30-year-old patient died after attending a “Covid party,” believing the virus was a hoax, a Texas medical official said.
“Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said, ‘I think I made a mistake, I thought it was a hoax, but it isn’t,'” said Dr. Jane Appleby, medical director of the San Antonio Methodist hospital. .
Appleby said, “I don’t want to be an alarmist, and we’re just trying to share some real-world examples to help our community realize that this virus is very serious and can spread easily.”
A “Covid party” is a meeting organized by someone diagnosed with coronavirus to see if the virus is real and to see if someone gets infected, he explained.
Appleby said in her filmed remarks over the weekend that she had been prompted to reveal the case after seeing a “worrying” increase in infections. She said 22% of tests revealed a case of Covid-19, compared to just 5% a few weeks ago.
A broader age range was being affected, with several young people in their 20s and 30s seriously ill at the Methodist hospital, he said.
“Wear a mask, stay home when you can, avoid groups of people and disinfect your hands,” said Appleby.
The call for caution came when top Houston officials urged the city to close its doors as hospitals struggled to accommodate new cases of coronavirus.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said an order to stay home was needed for the fourth largest city in the United States to cope with the increase.
Last week, Texas continued to break records of confirmed cases and deaths related to the disease. State health officials reported 8,196 new cases, 80 other deaths and a total of 10,410 people hospitalized due to the virus on Sunday.
The decision on a shutdown, however, rests with Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who has resisted this step, saying it should be a last resort.
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