The orphans behind virus statistics

[superadmin]

She became an orphan once she was born. Delivered prematurely by cesarean section, the infant first lost her mother, Davy Macias, 37, who succumbed to COVID-19 complications while intubated－never to see her daughter.

The girl's father went next. Daniel Macias, 39, would get only a brief glimpse of her because he was being treated in the same hospital after contracting the virus. Less than two weeks later, he also died from complications relating to COVID-19. The girl was left without parents and a name.

Many children will grow up in the US with a similar story. Nearly 114,000 of them have lost their parents, grandparents or caregivers during the country's COVID-19 outbreak, according to a paper published in The Lancet in July.

Aside from the now 3-week-old girl, the Californian couple had four other children, aged 7, 5, 3 and 2. The Macias children are now being cared for by their grandparents.


- More -