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Dr. Jane Appleby is the medical director of the San Antonio Methodist Hospital.
Dr. Jane Appleby is the medical director of the San Antonio Methodist Hospital.
Photo courtesy
Dr. Jane Appleby is the medical director of the San Antonio Methodist Hospital.
Dr. Jane Appleby is the medical director of the San Antonio Methodist Hospital.
Photo courtesy
A San Antonio doctor warned of an increase in the number of young people contracting the coronavirus after a patient told a nurse that he had attended a “COVID party.”
Dr. Jane Appleby, medical director at Methodist Hospital, said the 30-year-old man died shortly after telling the nurse, “I think I made a mistake. I thought it was a hoax, but it is not.”
The hospital released a video statement from Appleby over the weekend in hopes of raising awareness of the need for young people to protect themselves from the virus.
At ExpressNews.com: Methodist doctor warns against deadly ‘COVID parties’ after San Antonio’s death
Appleby did not identify the patient. The city’s Metropolitan Health District told Express-News that they had not heard of such parties in the city of Alamo.
In the statement, Appleby said it was “trying to share some real-world examples to help our community realize that this virus is very serious and can spread easily.”
Here is what Appleby said about the increase in coronavirus cases among youth and the COVID party:
“I just want to take a few minutes to share what we’ve been seeing across the city and at the Methodist Hospital for the past few weeks.
Currently, the Health Department reports that 22 percent of people who test for the COVID virus have a positive test. That’s about one in five people. This is a worrying increase from a positive rate of around five percent just a few weeks ago.
As we see the virus spread in our community and affect more people, we also see that it affects a broader age range of people, including young people in their 20s and 30s. What we have learned about this virus is that it does not discriminate and none of us is invincible.
I don’t want to be an alarmist. We are just trying to share a few real-world examples to help our community realize that this virus is very serious and can spread easily. I heard a heartbreaking story this week.
We cared for a 30-year-old patient from Methodist Hospital who told his nurse that they had attended a COVID party. This is a party organized by someone diagnosed with the COVID virus and the idea is for people to get together and see if the virus is real and if someone gets infected.
Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said, ‘I think I made a mistake. I thought this was a hoax, but it is not.
This is just one example of the potentially preventable death of a young member of our community and I cannot imagine the loss of the family. At Methodist Hospital today, we have several 20-year-olds and several 30-year-olds who are seriously ill.
Some of these young people come to the hospital for treatment and may be discharged, while others become ill very quickly and require intensive care. We know that people with hypertension and diabetes and obesity appear to be at increased risk for serious illness with the COVID virus.
We care deeply about the citizens of San Antonio, Texas, and we are here to help you. At the same time, we hope you don’t need our help. Wear a mask, stay home when you can, avoid groups of people, and disinfect your hands. Thank you.”
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