A surprise birthday party on May 30 has turned into a nightmare for a family in Texas. Now, almost one month later, 18 members of the family have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Ron Barbosa said the party was to celebrate his daughter-in-law's 30 birthday, but he and his wife, who is a doctor, decided not to attend because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It turns out the host of the party, Barbosa's nephew, had COVID-19. He had a slight cough but assumed it was due to his job in construction and did not realize he had contracted the virus. He spread the virus to seven others at the party, who then went home and spread it to ten more family members.
Barbosa said that about 25 people showed up to the party throughout the day.
"It wasn't that long. It was only a couple of hours," Barbosa, who volunteers as an EMT, said. "But during that brief time, somehow, the other 18 family members are now infected with COVID."
Two young children were among those infected, though most of the family has since recovered. Barbosa said that both of his parents and his sister, who is battling breast cancer, remain hospitalized.
"When people started getting sick, we really let everyone have it," Barbosa said. "We knew this was going to happen, I mean this whole time this has been going on we've been terrified."
Photo: WFAA-TV