Download PDFAn elderly woman from the Eldorado Park community (south of Johannesburg) passed away on 12 June 2021, only three weeks after experiencing flu-like symptoms, and a week after she received her positive test results for COVID-19.
Pearl Smith (not her real name) aged 62, from Kamfer Street, Ext 9 in Eldorado Park had suffered from chronic illnesses of high blood pressure and diabetes for many years and she become more ill after testing positive for COVID-19.
Simon Smith (Pearl’s husband), a 64-year-old man, mentioned that Pearl’s symptoms started on 21 May 2021 when she started getting headaches, joint pains and also flu-like symptoms. She had gone to test on 28 May 2021 and received her results on 4 June 2021, while she was isolating.
Pearl had fallen had been quarantining and at the same time taking her medication for her chronic illnesses. A few days after receiving her positive results, she had been weak, lying in bed all the time and only getting up to eat or use the bathroom.
Elicia (33) is the mother of an 11-year-old boy whom Pearl had been looking after. According to Elicia, Pearl called her on the day she received her results to inform her that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and that Elicia needed to fetch her son and get him tested immediately.
According to Simon, everyone who resided in the same house and who had been in contact with Pearl went to get test including the boy Pearl used to look after, Pearl’s daughter, Sharon, and Simon. Strangely all of their results came back negative on 12 June 2021, the day Pearl has passed on. Regardless of their test results, the house was disinfected and sanitised immediately.
Simon said; “It was been very sad for our family to see her like that and we could also not be in contact with her, which has made the battle of fighting this virus more difficult for us. Pearl has been through a lot with the chronic illness she has suffered with and now this virus had just added to it. It made her lose hope for becoming better. It really broke my heart seeing her like that, because that was not the Pearl I knew – she was very energetic and vibrant for her age.”
This article was submitted on 5 July 2021. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
