A surprise birthday party last month proved ultimately to be ill-considered as 18 members of a family in Texas were diagnosed with COVID-19, including a couple in their 80s and a cancer patient.
80-somethings Carole and Frank Barbosa are among the family members fighting the coronavirus.
Today.com reports that Frank is in the intensive care unit, but Ron Barbosa, his son, wrote on Facebook that his father received a crucial plasma infusion from recovered COVID-19 patients who had antibodies.
Frank and Carole have six children, 26 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren and hope to celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary together on July 26.
However it was a surprise 30th birthday party on May 30th for a member of the third generation of the Barbosa’s that led to 18 family members being diagnosed with COVID-19.
It emerged that one family member, who was asymptomatic, who did not know at the time that he had coronavirus hosted the party that included about 25 people turning up at various times.
Amongst those who contracted the virus is Kathy, who’s also undergoing chemotherapy treatments for breast cancer but is reportedly in recovery from COVID-19.
The spread of the illness among the family comes as cases have spiked in Texas to the point that Governor Greg Abbott announced Thursday that the state is pausing its latest reopening phase and suspending elective surgeries.
Health experts warned on Friday that the US was not doing enough testing for Covid-19 and that simply pausing reopening plans in some states – as others continue to roar ahead – would not be enough to stem the spread of the disease.
