Texas Family Devastated After 18 Relatives Test Positive for Covid-19; Japanese Study Finds Face Masks Save Lives.
As coronavirus cases continue to surge in Texas, one family is facing a devastating crisis. They never could have imagined this happening just a year ago.
On May 30, a single relative interacted with several family members during a surprise birthday party. That relative later tested positive for coronavirus.
As a result, 18 people in Ron Barbosa’s family have now tested positive for the virus. He didn’t attend the party himself. However, his nephew hosted. His nephew is the one who unknowingly had COVID.
“It wasn’t that long. It was only a couple of hours,” said Barbosa, a volunteer EMT. “But during that brief time, somehow the other 18 family members are now infected with COVID.”
Barbosa said that he and his wife refused to attend the party for safety reasons. 25 people attended altogether. 18 ended up sick with the virus.
“When people started getting sick, we really let everyone have it,” said Barbosa. “We knew this was going to happen. I mean, this whole time this has been going on we’ve been terrified.”
Two grandparents, two young children, Barbosa’s parents who are in their 80s, and a cancer patient all tested positive for the virus.
Three of those infected are in the hospital. They include Barbosa’s sister, Kathy, who has breast cancer; and his parents, Frank and Carole.
“My dad is hanging on by a thread,” said Barbosa. “They’re saying this is one of the last straws for my dad.”
Because of how contagious the virus is, there are visitation restrictions. Instead, family members can only contact those who were hospitalized by phone.
“That’s really the best medicine. You know they’re in there by themselves with no family,” said Barbosa as he held back tears. “It’s heartbreaking.”
As for how the rest of his family has been doing, Barbosa says that they’ve gone through a myriad of emotions, including anger.
“We were horrified. People couldn’t believe that they took it to a family member,” said Barbosa. “But now, we’re holding on together.”
Related: Trump Won’t Follow Quarantine Orders Because ‘He’s Not a Civilian’
Researchers in Japan have found that wearing face masks reduces the risk of dying from Covid-19. The most significant find from the study is that wearing a mask had a 70 percent impact on death rates. The study is awaiting peer-review, but the results look promising.
“Identification of biomedical and socioeconomic predictors for the number of deaths by Covid-19 among countries will lead to the development of effective intervention,” said the study.
Researchers found that the mask-wearing rate was “the strongest predictor for the number of deaths per million.”
The study says that nearly 80% of covid-19 deaths from June could stem from people’s reluctance to wear masks in mid-March. Not only that, but people were also seeking things like haircuts and men’s shave appointments instead of staying home.
The Japanese study isn’t the only one that showed similar results. A study by researchers from the California Institute of Technology also rated face masks as “the most effective means to prevent inter-human transmission.”
Not only that but the WHO is also supporting wearing face masks.
“In light of evolving evidence, the WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear masks on public transport,” said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Related: WHO Backtracks, Issues Warning About Asymptomatic Coronavirus Carriers
