18 family members catch COVID-19 after a holiday party in Pennsylvania

Eighteen members of the same family contracted coronavirus after one of them organized a holiday party despite showing symptoms beforehand.

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

The mild irritation couldn’t have come at a worse time, as Reynolds prepared to welcome family members arriving from Canada the next day, she told WPVI this week.

Reynolds apparently knew it could be a symptom of COVID-19, so she continued to monitor her other signals.

‘I didn’t have a fever because I kept checking it – no fever, no fever, no fever. I said, “I keep my distance since I have a tiny cough,” she said.

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

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Reynolds said she and her family members were initially unaware they had COVID-19, believing it could be the flu instead.

But when they got tested, it was confirmed that the coronavirus was the culprit.

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

A total of 18 family members – ranging in age from a year old to 62 – tested positive for the virus, she said.

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

Luke was fired on Monday, Reynolds announced in a cheery Facebook post, but Stephen is still sick to come home.

He’s heading in the right direction. He needs oxygen when he gets home, ‘Reynolds’ daughter, Joy Purdie, told WPVI.

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

But the family got a helping hand when a woman named Lisa Riggin got wind of their story on Facebook and started asking other members of the small community to join her in providing financial support.

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

“The truck has been down for a month and they haven’t had any income and I just don’t want them to lose their home or business,” Riggin told WPVI.

‘People donate, not as much as I would like, but people respond. We had a guy donate $ 500 last night. He doesn’t even know me or her. ‘

The Reynolds’ family story came to light when America’s recent devastating increase in coronavirus cases – which experts say was fueled by vacation trips and gatherings – appears to be diminishing somewhat.

As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 24 million cases and 399,008 deaths have been confirmed in the US. 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 people testing positive in the past seven days, with the exception of Maine, South Carolina and Virginia, all of which are on the rise. Three states – Delaware, New Jersey and Texas – are not reporting any changes.

Daily new cases also dropped from a peak of 283,204 on Jan. 8 to 137,885 on Tuesday, Jan. 19 – a 51 percent drop in 11 days. The seven-day moving average of 200,407 is the lowest it has been since the New Year.

Dr. However, Anthony Fauci has warned that masks and social distancing are not going anywhere anytime soon and that the nation may need to prepare for the fact that COVID-19 is here to stay.

‘We have to make that possible. We need to be prepared for that, ”Fauci told The National Desk on Tuesday.

‘Right now we are lucky to have a vaccine that is extremely effective for the strain that is now circulating in our own country. We may have to make adjustments as new types come in that are different. ‘

The country’s top infectious disease expert says normalcy can only occur when most of the country has been vaccinated.

“ If we make sure the land is 70 percent to 85 percent vaccinated, and we get this blanket or umbrella of herd immunity, so that the virus level is so low in society that it’s not really a threat to anyone, then we can start down on the rigor of public health measures, ”Fauci said.

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

Only 14.7 million Americans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since Tuesday morning, and only about 54 percent of vaccine doses distributed to states have been given to humans, according to data from Bloomberg.