18 family members capture COVID-19 after a party in Pennsylvania

Eighteen members of the same family contracted coronavirus after one of them organized a holiday party despite having previously shown symptoms.

The family’s nightmare began on the morning of Dec. 26 in Milmont Park, Pennsylvania, when Darlene Reynolds, 55, woke up with a scratched throat.

The slight irritation could not have come at a worse time as Reynolds was preparing to take in relatives traveling from Canada the next day, he told WPVI this week.

Apparently, Reynolds knew it could be a symptom of COVID-19, so he continued to watch for his other signs.

“I didn’t have a fever because I kept checking it out, no fever, no fever, no fever. I said, ‘I’ll keep my distance as I have a small cough,'” he said.

The party went on as planned, and soon after more family members began to get sick from what turned out to be a superextension event.

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Reynolds said she and her family members did not initially know they had COVID-19, suspecting it could be the flu.

But when they went for the test, it was confirmed that the coronavirus was the culprit.

My husband tested positive the next day. And then [my daughter] he got sick and he tested positive, and my son tested positive, ”Reynolds said.

A total of 18 relatives, ranging in age from one to 62, ended up testing positive for the virus, he said.

Both her son Luke and her husband Stephen developed such serious cases that they ended up in the hospital.

Luke was discharged Monday, Reynolds announced in a cheerful post on Facebook, but Stephen is still ill to return home.

It goes in the right direction. He’ll need oxygen when he gets home, Reynolds ’daughter Joy Purdie told WPVI.

To make matters worse, Stephen’s business, Mini Movers, has been unable to take on jobs after his truck broke down, leaving the family with no income to cover hospital bills.

But the family received a helping hand when a woman named Lisa Riggin found out about her story on Facebook and began asking other members of the small community to join her to give her financial support.

Riggin created Venmo and PayPal accounts that have so far raised $ 4,000 for the cause.

“The truck hasn’t been running for a month and they have no income and I don’t want to see them lose their home or their business,” Riggin told WPVI.

“People give, not as much as they would like, but people respond. Last night we had a guy who gave $ 500. He doesn’t even know me or her.

The Reynolds’ family history came to light as the recent devastating American wave of coronavirus cases – which experts say was fueled by travel and vacation meetings – appears to be easing slightly.

At noon on Tuesday, more than 24 million cases and 399,008 deaths were confirmed in the United States. Of those, 777,186 cases and 19,467 deaths came from Pennsylvania, according to the state health department.

Nearly every state has seen a drop in the number of positive people in the last seven days, with the exception of Maine, South Carolina and Virginia, which are on the rise. Three states – Delaware, New Jersey and Texas – report no changes.

New daily cases also fell from a high of 283,204 on Jan. 8 to 137,885 on Tuesday, Jan. 19, a 51 percent drop in 11 days. The average of 200,407 seven-day days is the lowest figure since the new year.

However, Dr. Anthony Fauci has warned that masks and social distancing will not go anywhere soon and that the nation may need to prepare for COVID-19 to be here to stay.

‘We have to do it as a possibility. We have to be prepared for that, “Fauci told The National Desk on Tuesday.

“Right now we are lucky to have an extremely effective vaccine for the strain that is now circulating in our own country.” We may need to make modifications as new different strains enter.

The country’s leading infectious disease expert says normalcy can only occur when most of the country is vaccinated.

“When we get the country vaccinated from 70% to 85% and we get that blanket or umbrella of herd immunity so that the virus level is so low in society that it really isn’t a threat to anyone, then we can start coming for the rigor of public health measures, ”Fauci said.

“The bottom line is that if you get vaccinated, you can’t throw away the masks because you can get infected and possibly infect other people.”

Only 14.7 million Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since Tuesday morning and only 54% of vaccine doses distributed in the states have been administered to people, according to Bloomberg data.