Following the recent rise in cases, hospitalizations and deaths, health experts have warned that gathering for the holidays could make things worse. And Burke is now among those urging Americans to take the virus seriously.
“We’re fighting a virus, we’re fighting an epidemic that will kill us,” he said. “We need to fight together to save our individual families.”
Her family’s infection began with a show of kindness, Burke said. His mother gave the ride to an old, sick friend who said he had a cold.
It turned out to be coronavirus, Burke said.
“Let my mother let her guard down for a moment,” Burke said. “And in that quick moment my whole family was impressed.”
Now, Burke is struggling to make things as simple as breathing. Her 2-year-old daughter suffers from high fever. Her son and eldest daughter looked ill. His mother is at home with oxygen and is unable to breathe on her own after six days in hospital, he said.
And her father died of the virus while on a ventilator.
“I understand that everyone needs to survive, and I understand that financial difficulties are real, but also painful,” he said. “But … don’t you want to walk away alive, healthy, with your family without nerve damage?”
“You don’t want to spend the money you have on funerals and burying your loved ones.”
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