A 7-month-old baby in Camden, South Carolina has tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus. The young boy is named Emmett Doster, and may be one of the youngest Americans to contract the virus yet. According to a report by WGN9, Emmett’s positive test came back on Tuesday, March 17.
“He woke up from a nap running a fever so we were going to play it out and see, but my mom tested positive for the virus as well,” Emmett’s mother Courtney Doster told reporters. She explained that she rushed Emmett to the urgent care center in Elgin after taking his temperature and finding he had a 104-degree fever. With both Emmett and his grandmother testing positive, five members of the Doster family are now reportedly in self-quarantine.
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Many parents are struggling with how to protect their children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Courtney Doster shares her experience as her 7-month-old son battles the virus
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“My husband and I are both, you know, legal guardian, so we’re both under the legal contract from DHAC to stay at home,” Courtney Doster said. “They asked us all not to go anywhere since we’ve been exposed. And I mean it makes sense because you want to help, you know, not spread the virus.”
Doster has a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old child as well, but said that they are thankfully not showing any symptoms of the virus yet. Meanwhile, the family posted their story on social media on Friday, hoping to spread the word and make others take COVID-19 more seriously, if they were not already.
“It is very important, especially for, you know, the immune compromised,” she said. “So it’s not really about us, but about everybody else as well.”
Doster’s Facebook post has more than 800 shares at the time of this writing, and dozens of heartfelt comments. In it, she thanked “everyone who has prayed and reached out to” her family. She marveled at the community outreach, even at a time when people are practicing social distancing. At the same time, Doster urged people to maintain their isolation.
“This is my PSA! Please take heed to these warnings. Stay inside. Don’t go out to eat or to the park or to the bars. As much as it sucks to be at home, remember this… IT’S NOT ABOUT JUST YOU! Stay home for your elderly parents or grandparents, or your immunocompromised sister, the newborn baby next door! The more we stay home, wash our hands, and listen to the president or our governors, the CDC, etc the quicker this will be over and we can get back to somewhat normal lives,” she wrote.
For the latest on the COVID-19 pandemic, visit the CDC’s website.
