A 34-year-old California man has died after testing positive of coronavirus just days earlier. Jeffrey Ghazarian passed away Thursday morning at a Pasadena hospital, according to TMZ.
Ghazarian had spent five days hooked up to a ventilator at the hospital. Additionally, two weeks prior, he’d visited Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida. “He suffered a lot and put up a good fight,” his sister said of his passing. “We will miss our Jeff every day but we are thankful for all the fun happy memories of the times we had together.”
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According to Ghazarian’s family, he flew from Los Angeles, California to Orlando, Florida on March 2 for a work conference. Then, he decided to stick around for a couple of extra days to visit Disney World as well as Universal theme parks along with some friends.
By March 7 he had developed a cough, and the following day ended up coughing up some blood. On March 9, he flew back to LAX and immediately checked himself into the ER, where it was discovered that he also had a high fever.
A chest x-ray confirmed that Ghazarian had pneumonia, and then tested positive for COVID-19 on March 13, and Jeff was provided a portable oxygen meter to keep an eye on his levels. By March 14, he was taken to the ICU, where they discovered his lungs were 60-70 percent blocked with pneumonia. At that point, doctors decided to sedate and intubate in the hopes that a ventilator would help his lungs heal. He passed away on March 19.
There have been a total of 201 reported deaths as a result of coronavirus as of Friday, according to The CDC, with more than 15,000 confirmed cases. In order to help slow the spread, people have been encouraged to self-isolate and take part in social distancing, which means keeping a distance of about six feet when out in public. In addition, officials stress the importance of frequent hand-washing, coughing into your elbow and avoid touching your face. Although not everyone has been able to take that advice.
Like several businesses, Universal Studios and Walt Disney World have closed in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus. Although the latter ended up catching some flack for hosting a “farewell party” prior to the temporary shutdown, given that gatherings of more than 10 people are being strongly discouraged at the moment.
