Toddler loses father and mother to coronavirus

A four-year-old boy in Texas lost both his parents to the coronavirus.

His father Adan Gonzalez III and mother Maria Salinas died of the disease 102 days apart.

“He was the apple of their eye,” said Margie Bryant, toddler Raiden Gonzalez’s great-aunt.

Adan contracted the virus while training at a new job, Bryant said, adding he tested positive on June 3 and was hospitalised on June 9. He died in a San Antonio hospital on June 26.

“Contact was very, very limited. Mariah was just an emotional wreck. If she was lucky she would be able to talk to the charge nurse once a day. At the very end when the nurses thought there may not be a recovery, she was allowed to FaceTime with him,” said Mariah’s uncle, Harry Wagner.

In October, she had a sudden onset of symptoms at home and was rushed to the hospital where her health declined rapidly. “She was gone within 12 hours,” said Bryant.

Mariah, aged 29 years, died 102 days after her husband, who was 33. Her COVID-29 positive test came back after her death.

“She had no symptoms whatsoever. Not a sniffle, not a cough. Nothing,” said Bryant. “The other side to this is the painful suffering of the family members who are left behind, especially in this situation when it’s a 4-year-old child,” Wagner said.

Family members are rallying around the young boy to support him and making plans for permanent guardianship.