By Montse Ricossa | July 24, 2020 at 2:01 PM EDT – Updated July 24 at 2:06 PM
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC/Gray News) – A Davenport family has 15 family members who all tested positive for COVID-19. The Nava family said they took all the proper precautions like staying home, wearing a mask if they go out for groceries and sanitizing as often as they can.
Within the five nuclear families, three are in induced comas.
“I feel like I want to cry and run away from all of this, but it’s just, I’m in shock,” explained Alicia Nava, who tested positive for COVID-19 on July 1. “I went to the hospital because I was fainting a lot and my oxygen was low. And that’s when I received a call from my doctor saying I was positive with the COVID.”
Alicia Nava’s sister Veronica also recently tested positive. Veronica said she had a headache, a fever and felt drowsy. “I started to feel really scared like I don’t know … really strongly. I started crying. I have two kids, 7 years and 5 years old. And my fear was that … it would spread,” says Veronica tearfully.
In Spanish: “Me empecé a sentir muy espanto, cómo no se, algo asi bien fuerte. Que me puse a llorar. Tengo dos ninos de 7 años y 5 años. Y mi temor era también que, disculpe. Que se contagia.”
The Nava family believes they got COVID-19 from the teenagers in their family who were asymptomatic and spent time together.
“What happened is that a lot of young people don’t believe that COVID can spread fast and it can hurt older people than younger. So one of my family embers was the carrier. And she was visiting family and she was infected, and she didn’t know. So that’s how it spread. Because we were taking the steps we were supposed to take, we weren’t visiting anyone, everyone was at their house. It just happened,” Alicia Nava said.
Three family members are still in the hospital, including their 77-year-old father. Alicia said his doctors called them on Wednesday, asking if they wanted to take him off the ventilator. Veronica said, “My dad, like they said, can die. Think of your kids.”
In Spanish: “Mi papá como dicen, puede morir. Que piensen en sus hijos.”
“They need to think about others … and really take care of everyone,” Alicia Nava said.
The family said they’re not allowing others in their house without a face mask, and they’re taking extra cleaning precautions. However, the family still has emotional and financial worries.
Alicia Nava said the head of the house in every family is out of a job, with two of them at the hospital. She says nobody has gotten their unemployment checks, which has made them fall even further behind on their bills.
Health officials continue to recommend you wear a face mask if you cannot social distance. If you feel sick or have any COVID-19 symptoms, stay home and self isolate.
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