UPDATED 3/19, 5:25 p.m. ET:Sadly a fourth member of the family has now passed away, NJ.com reports. On Thursday, Vincent Fusco fell victim to the coronavirus, as his mother, sister, and brother did before him. Vincent died in the same facility that his mother did a day earlier.
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Three members of the same New Jersey family have died after contracting the coronavirus, and another four are currently battling the virus.
73-year-old Grace Fusco died on Wednesday night in a hospital, her family revealed to The New York Times. Her death comes after two of her 11 children also died in the same manner. Due to her ventilator-assisted condition, the Times adds that she was unaware that her children had died just before her.
The first of those two children to pass was her 55-year-old daughter, Rita Fusco-Jackson, who became Jersey's second coronavirus victim when she succumbed to the virus this past Friday. The second of those children to pass was her eldest son, Carmine Fusco, who died earlier on Wednesday in a Pennsylvania hospital.
The Times adds that four other members of the family, who are all children of Fusco, remain in hospitals after also coming down with the virus.
“This has been devastating for all of us,” said Fusco-Jackson’s sister, Elizabeth Fusco, to NJ.com following Rita's death.
“Our hearts are broken over losing our sister, Rita. We just need help in saving our family members with life-saving medication," she added.
A total of 19 family members of the hospitalized victims have been quarantined on account of coming into contact with them after March 10. Subsequently, they are isolated in their homes and cannot properly mourn.
State health officials believe the virus was passed around when the family got together recently (in an event that was described as a "routine family dinner") and thus it's being used as a cautionary tale to avoid similar gatherings.
