An 18-year-old hoped that catching Covid would have granted him some immunity against the virus – only to reinfect him and kill him, his girlfriend said. Wilber Portillo first caught Covid in October 2020 and fought his symptoms.
Wilber, from Denver, Colorado, ended up beating them and was hopeful that he had received some protection against reinfection. But, tragically, he fell ill again weeks later, in mid-November, and died in his sleep, hours after going to the doctor.
Wilber’s distressed girlfriend says he received a second positive result from Covid two days after his death.
She said: ‘Just because you are young, you are not immune to it and even though we see more cases with older people and people with health problems and even people without health problems. It is important that you stay at home. ‘
Wilber was quarantined for four weeks after his first Covid infection, and was extremely careful even after his symptoms started to disappear. When he became ill for the second time in the week after the initial symptoms had disappeared, the teenager’s doctor said he was suffering from a serious lung infection, KDVR reported.
Ferrel said it was “devastating” to have to stay away from Wilber while he was sick with Covid, during what turned out to be the last weeks of his life. Scientists believe that Covid’s capture grants you a period of immunity against reinfection, although it is unclear how long that immunity can last.
Others tested positive for Covid twice, although experts continue to investigate whether these results were actually separate infections or the result of a test that detected an old piece of virus “dead” from the previous infection.
A GoFundMe page created for Wilber urged other young people to be cautious. It said: ‘This was your motto, be the best you, live life to the fullest. We also hope to inform you that Covid-19 must be taken seriously.
‘No matter how young or healthy you may look. Please stay at home as long as you can, unless it is for essential needs. ‘The US has recorded 24 million Covid infections and almost 400,000 deaths.
New President Joe Biden says he wants 100 million vaccines to be administered in his first 100 days in office.
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