Coronavirus in America: 14 family members test positive after gathering

After months of social distancing, this large family met for a gathering. Now more than a dozen of them have the virus and one is dead.

One person has died while another is on life support after coronavirus ripped through more than a dozen family members after a small gathering last month.

Fourteen members of the same Texas family have tested positive for COVID-19 after a series of get-togethers.

Tony Green told NBC News he hosted a party for both their parents on June 9 after practising social distancing for months.

“We just felt the worst was behind the country because everything was easy, things were reopening and none of us were experiencing any symptoms,” he said.

No one wore masks and the next day Mr Green said he began feeling unwell.

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14 members of the same family have contracted coronavirus after a series of gatherings. Picture: Inside Edition.

In the days that followed, Mr Green’s partner and his in-laws began to feel sick as well.

His father-in-law Rafael Ceja and mother-in-law Marisa travelled from Dallas to Austin on June 15 for the birth of their first grandchild, where they came into contact with more family members.

Other the next few days Mr and Ms Ceja, Mr Green’s sister-in-law, as well as the new parents fell ill with COVID-19, however, fortunately the newborn did not catch the virus too.

Mr Ceja’s mother also fell ill with coronavirus and was admitted to hospital in late June, however, tragically died.

Mr Green spent a few days in hospital, where coronavirus nearly triggered a stroke.

Mr Ceja was also in hospital and remains on life support after his coronavirus caused him to develop pneumonia.

In total, 14 family members have been infected, with 12 of them now recovered.

An emotional Mr Green, who has set up a fundraiser to help pay his father-in-law’s medical expenses, told Inside Editon he was feeling “hurt, pain” and “hopelessness”.

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Tony Green said he was heartbroken at the family outbreak.

“We’re praying,” Mr Green added.

The United States on Monday recorded 57,039 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University reported in its real-time tally.

America is the hardest-hit country globally in terms of both death toll and total caseload, which stood at 4,286,663 on Monday night local time, according to the Baltimore-based university.

An additional 679 deaths brought the overall death toll to 147,588.

After a drop in infection rate in the late spring, the US has seen a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, particularly in southern and western states such as California, Texas, Alabama and Florida.

Until Sunday, the number of daily infections had exceeded 60,000 for 12 straight days, with some days notching more than 70,000 new cases.

Last weekend, the number of deaths reported in 24 hours had exceeded more than 1,000 for four days in a row. The last time daily tolls were so high was in May.

The slight dip on Sunday and Monday could be due to local health authorities’ slower response over the weekend.

-With AFP