MITGER
Kali Cook was 4 years old. He hated ties and liked to play with worms.
He lived in Bacliff with his mother, father and older siblings. He attended early childhood education classes in the Dickinson Independent School District.
He died of COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to Galveston County Health District.
The death occurred quickly and underscores the warnings of local doctors that while children tend to go well against COVID, when they get sick they can get very sick and the disease can progress quickly.
Kali is the youngest county resident to die from the virus, which has caused 465 lives here since it emerged in March 2020.
No other county resident under the age of 20 has succumbed to the virus.
“She was very funny and cheeky,” said Karra Harwood, Kali’s mother. “She was not your average girl. He prefers to play with worms and frogs than carry bows. She was so beautiful and full of life.
On Thursday, through sobs, Harwood said he didn’t want people to think of his daughter as an anonymous statistic. He wanted people to know who his daughter was.
“I’d rather it be a name than just a girl,” she said. “She was beautiful.”
Galveston County Local Health Authority Philip Keizer called the death a tragedy.
“That’s terrible, but I think people need to know,” Keizer said.
Health district officials did not disclose Kali and Harwood’s personal information. The Daily News was able to confirm their identities independently.
Kali never tested positive for the virus and was not confirmed to carry it until she was examined by the Galveston County Medical Office.
“I ended up getting COVID and I was diagnosed Monday,” Harwood said. “I came home and I was isolated. I tried to get away from her and I didn’t want her and my other kids to get it. “
Harwood said her daughter had no diagnoses of immune disorders or other health conditions. She used to get sicker than her siblings, Harwood said.
On Tuesday around two in the morning, Harwood’s mother noticed that Kali had a fever, she said. They gave her medicine to fight her.
By 7 a.m., Kali had left.
“He died asleep,” Harwood said.
Harwood and most of the rest of his family were quarantined due to their own COVID infections. She said she and her fiancé were out of work because of the pandemic.
Harwood said she was not vaccinated.
“I was one of the people who was anti, I was against it,” he said. “Now I wish I never was.”
Dickinson Independent School District confirmed Thursday evening that Kali was a student at KE Little Elementary in Bacliff. She was last in class on Sept. 1, the district said.
Health officials said they did not believe the girl was infected at her school. The contact scan conducted by the health district showed that no student or adult who was in close contact with her had tested positive for the virus, Keizer said.
Like all children under the age of twelve, Kali still could not be vaccinated. Amid the two-month increase in coronavirus cases in Galveston County and across the country, health officials have called on people to get vaccinated to help protect others from the spread of the virus.
Approximately 60 percent of eligible Galveston County residents, and approximately half of the county’s total population, have received full vaccination courses.
Due to the delta variant, it was confirmed that the number of children reached the record number in Galveston County. Nearly 30 percent of all cases in children under 12 occurred in August, according to the health district.
Children generally do not suffer from severe symptoms of the virus; but health officials have stressed that children with symptoms should receive medical attention as soon as possible.
“It’s very important, if your kids are sick, not to say, ‘Oh, they’ll be fine,'” Keizer said. “If your kids are sick, go get medical attention.”