The remains of a woman in Coweta County, Georgia, Dedra Wilkes, whose life was taken by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, were discovered alongside her 5-year-old child at her home around 12 hours after her death supposedly took place.
Police officers found the deceased upon performing a welfare check at her place. According to the Coweta County Coroner, Richard Hawk, the woman, who made a living as a mammogram technician at Piedmont Newnan Hospital, had tested positive for the virus, but for the time being, it remains unknown if her kid was infected too or how she got sick.
Following the demise of the woman, authorities were quick to inform the hospital where she worked that she was infected with the virus.
A statement issued by the hospital spokesperson read: “The staff is deeply saddened when the coroner notified us … of the sudden passing of our colleague. Piedmont is providing these individuals with detailed information for self-monitoring and will offer COVID-19 testing to those who request it. This employee did not work in an area treating known or suspected COVID-19 patients. Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family during this difficult time.”
The death of the mammogram technician marks the second case of a health care worker that is claimed by the infectious disease in Georgia.
The first healthcare worker whose life was taken away by the COVID-19 was a 48-year-old female that held a position at the Donalsonville Hospital in the southwestern part of the state.
For the time being, more than 2,808 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the state of Georgia, and the virus has taken the lives of around 87 people so far.
A similar situation happened in the Bronx when a coronavirus victim’s body was left in her home for more than 24 hours before being collected. Caridad Santiago was a 43-year old MTA cleaner and her body was discovered by her daughter, Crystal Puertos-Salaam, 16,
The teenager told local media before the Medical Examiner’s office picked the body: “She’s been in the bed dead since then and nobody has come to take care of it. She’s still in the same place.”
Her father, Ernesto Salaam, added: “The detectives …. made my daughter go in to check on the body because they were scared. The police sent her in there to take pictures while they stood outside, saying they didn’t have the proper equipment to go in there. But why jeopardize my child? She’s only 16 years old.”
The girl, her two sisters, brother, and their dad were forced to stay in the family’s van because they feared the home was infected with the virus. Santiago was never diagnosed with COVID-19 officially, but she had all of the symptoms for close to a week: trouble breathing, fever, cough, and loss of taste.
Meanwhile, it was reported that President Donald Trump expected the crisis to be over by the time Easter comes as he had claimed that more people would die if the country was in massive recession or depression, because “Depression causes death and a lot of problems.”
However, after listening to health experts, he has backed off and has picked the date of April 30 to try to ease the different federal social distancing guidelines.
