CALIFORNIA- The mayor of Lancaster, R.Rex Parris, says in a YouTube video posted on the official city of Lancaster YouTube page that the Southern California teen who died of COVID-19 was previously healthy. The teen died Wednesday March 18th and his death was not ruled related to coronavirus until 5 days later when results were received. In the video mayor Parris states, “The Friday before he died, he was healthy. By Wednesday he was dead”.
He also stated that originally the boy had gone to seek medical help at an urgent care clinic where he was denied treatment because his parents didn’t have medical insurance and they were told by staff to go to the local public hospital. On the way to the hospital the teen went into cardiac arrest according to the mayor due to his high fever and trouble breathing; both symptoms of coronavirus. “They were able to revive him and keep him alive for about six hours. But by the time he got there, it was too late” Parris said.
The teen’s death was ruled the first in the nation for a minor, however in a statement released Tuesday March 24th health officials are now saying they are looking further into the case. In the statement the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said, “Though early tests indicated a positive result for Covid-19, the case is complex and there may be an alternate explanation for this fatality. Patient privacy prevents our offering further details at this time,”.
The USA has now overtaken China as having the most reported confirmed cases in the world. As of this morning the U.S. has 93,329 reported cases.
The numbers as of 10am for the 209.
