New York—A 30-year-old man from Texas died from the new coronavirus after attending a “COVID-19” party hosted by an infected person, a doctor has revealed, underlining the risk to younger people.
Jane Appleby, chief medical officer at the Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, said the man thought the virus was a hoax, despite it killing more than 135,000 people in the United States so far.
As the country hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the US on Sunday recorded 59,747 new cases over the last 24-hour period, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
The number of cases in the US has rocketed in recent weeks, hitting a record of 66,528 in 24 hours on Saturday.
“Someone will be diagnosed with the disease, and they’ll have a party to invite their friends over to see if they can beat the disease,” Appleby said in a video broadcast by US media on Sunday.
“One of the things that was heart-wrenching that he said to his nurse was, ‘You know, I think I made a mistake.’
“He thought the disease was a hoax. He thought he was young and invincible and wouldn’t get affected by the disease.”
Appleby said young patients often do not realize how sick they are.
“They don’t look really sick. But when you check their oxygen levels and their lab tests, they’re really sicker than they appear,” she said, calling on people to take the risks seriously.
The Trump administration on Sunday again pressed for full school reopenings in the fall, even as resurgent coronavirus infections—many of them blamed on younger people—and a record spike in cases in Florida raise further questions about the country’s efforts to quell the disease.
The United States has by far the world’s highest caseload and number of deaths.
The country has now registered a total of 3,301,820 infections, the Baltimore-based university said in its latest data as of 8:30 pm (0030 GMT Monday).
The death toll stood at 135,171 with 442 additional deaths counted.
The surge in cases has forced some state governors to retreat from earlier efforts to reopen their economies, with some now embracing the wearing of masks.
President Donald Trump’s administration on Sunday again pressed for full school reopenings in the fall despite resurgent COVID-19 infections.