Moblissa woman dies from COVID-19; her entire family tests positive

By Isanella Patoir

A 74-year-old woman died next to her daughter at the Wismar Hospital in Region Ten on Thursday, hours after she was hospitalised, while 11 family members, including her two-year-old grandchild, tested positive for the virus.

Dead is Estella Williams of Moblissa on the Soesdyke Linden Highway. She is recorded as the 132 COVID-19 death and the sixth for this month. The Ministry of Health earlier on Thursday reported that a 54-year-old man from Region Four had died at a medical facility.

Williams’ daughter, 44-year-old Collene Williams, is also hospitalised at the Wismar Hospital, suffering severe symptoms of the disease since October 29. From her hospital bed, a distraught Collene told the News Room via telephone that her mother suffered a stroke two weeks ago and was hypertensive.

She was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday after she tested positive for the disease on Monday.

“She come in [Wednesday] and this morning like 10 after 6 she died right next to me,” Collene said in tears.

Still in shock, Williams explained that her mother was only administered oxygen while at the hospital and was not given any medication.

“I keep asking the nurses if they gonna take her to town [Georgetown] and they said ‘no’; they only had the oxygen and saline on her.”

Collene’s husband, her four sons and seven nieces and nephews, including a two-year-old, also tested positive for COVID-19. Collene explained that she was experiencing fever, cold and a cough a week before her positive results.

“While coughing, my head, my chest and my back started to hurt and my head was hurting bad; I stopped smell and I couldn’t eat and I told my husband I am not well and is not an ordinary cold and I was getting more weak,” the woman explained.

Collene believes she contracted the virus when she travelled to Georgetown last month and visited the bank to do some business.  The other family members are in home isolation at Moblissa.