The Graham family were away from their Malden, Washington home when the fires raged through the town and burned 80% of it.
A Washington family of seven who recently lost their home in the raging wildfires that have struck the West Coast have all contracted coronavirus while staying with friends and family, according to reports. The Graham family were away from their Malden, Washington home when the fires raged through the town and burned 80% of it.
“We were planning to come back that night, so we didn’t pack a single thing,” matriarch Jessica Graham, 38, told CNN.
Once they were rendered homeless, they stayed with Jessica’s parents and unbeknownst to them, her father was likely infected with COVID-19. Her mother also tested positive for coronavirus.
“My dad became sick with flu-like symptoms,” she told NBC. “So we think there’s a very good chance that we caught it from him, though he was never tested.”
She said the family was ignoring the symptoms at first and chalked it to the stress of everything going on in their lives.
“We were starting to experience symptoms at that time that we were hoping was just due to hazardous air quality,” Jessica told NBC. “We started having some sinus issues, coughing, but we thought it’s hazardous air and didn’t really think too much of it.
Suddenly, she said, she, her husband and five children who range in age from 5 to 12, all contracted the illness.
Her husband, Matthew, said he spent a week in bed in a hotel room bed.
“People don’t adequately describe how miserable coronaviruses are in general,” he told NBC. “Curled up in the fetal position, not moving, that really isn’t a good state to be in.”
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