Five children are now orphans after both father and mother die of COVID in California
A father of five has died of COVID-19 just weeks after his wife also died from the virus, leaving their children orphans in California.
Daniel Macias, 38, taught middle school math in the Rialto Unified School District in Yucaipa, California, The Desert Sun reported.
His wife, Davy Macias, 37, a labor and delivery nurse, died Aug. 26, days after giving birth while on a ventilator, McClatchy News reported. Neither had been vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Their newborn baby girl has not been named because the family hoped Daniel Macias, who fell ill a few days after his wife, would recover and name her, KTLA reported.
The baby and other children, ages 7, 5, 3 and 2, are being cared for by their grandparents, according to the station.
The children are still asking for “mommy and daddy,” sister-in-law Terri Serey told KNBC.
“COVID doesn’t play by the rules,” Vong Serey told KTLA. “It doesn’t matter — you’re young, old — it can hit anybody at this point.”
Vong Serey, brother of Davy Macias, told McClatchy News the couple probably caught COVID-19 on a recent vacation at a water park.
His sister had held off on getting vaccinated against the virus because of her pregnancy, and Daniel Macias also had not gotten the vaccine, he told McClatchy News.
“His last words before he was intubated were, ‘if you haven’t got the shot, go do so, because you don’t want to be like me,’” Vong Serey said.
Vong Serey told KTLA his family’s ordeal has changed his own mind about the vaccine. “It opens your eyes,” he said.
Daniel Macias was a math teacher and math coach in San Bernardino County for nearly 20 years, KNBC reported.
“His legacy will live on in the students, the thousands of students that he taught quality instruction to,” Syeda Jafri, a Rialto Unified School District spokeswoman, told the station.
“It is something we have to look at in the sense of life is very short and it’s very unpredictable,” Jafri told the station. “This pandemic is not over and this is a virus that does not discriminate.”
More than 99% of recent COVID-19 deaths in the United States have involved people who are not vaccinated against the virus, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on “Meet The Press” July 4.
Hospitals across the United States report they are flooded with new COVID patients, with many running out of intensive-care unit beds.
“We can’t do this forever,” Dr. Matthew Payne of Oklahoma told KOKH. “We’re drowning.”
More than 224 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with more than 4.6 million deaths as of Sept. 8, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has had more than 40 million confirmed cases with more than 659,000 deaths.
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 10:41 AM with the headline "Five children are now orphans after both father and mother die of COVID in California."