A 34-year-old man died in California after contracting coronavirus, and just weeks after visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida.
Jeffrey Ghazarian died on Thursday morning in a California hospital after being on a ventilator for five days, TMZ reports. His sister told the outlet, “He suffered a lot and put up a good fight. We will miss our Jeff every day but we are thankful for all the fun happy memories of the times we had together.”
Ghazarian’s health deteriorated rapidly and serves as a wake-up call to everyone, regardless of age. According to his family, he flew to Orlando on March 2 from Los Angeles for a work conference. He decided to extend his stay so he could visit Disney World and Universal theme parks with some friends.
He developed a cough on March 7, and then began coughing up blood the next day. He flew back to L.A. on March 9 and went to the ER, where he had a high fever. His chest x-ray showed he had pneumonia; he was then tested for COVID-19 and sent home to self-quarantine until his results arrived. He tested positive for the virus on March 13 and was given a portable oxygen meter, however his condition worsened. On March 14, he was taken to the hospital where he was sedated and intubated. Antiviral medication arrived too late and he passed away.
Ghazarian was a high-risk patient. He had asthma and bronchitis during his childhood and previously gotten surgery for testicular cancer in 2016. The CDC now says young people are also at risk of contracting coronavirus and showing symptoms.
Disney World came under fire earlier this week for throwing a huge celebration before it closed its parks due to the pandemic. Earlier this month, Disneyland also shuttered for the same reason.
