A Chicago teenager with no underlying illnesses died of COVID-19 just a week after being diagnosed with the virus, his family says.
Arnold Herrera was recovering at home and called in the New Year with his family, but then his condition worsened and he was admitted to a local hospital in Chicago, WLS reported.
Herrera died on Sunday, becoming the 11th person to die from COVID-19 under the age of 20 in Illinois.
His family was surprised at how quickly he deteriorated, saying that being young does not guarantee immunity to the virus.
“It doesn’t discriminate against age. It just happens. And we must all be careful, ”Herrera’s brother Pablo Portilla told WLS. “We shouldn’t think: ‘Oh, yes, because I’m young, this is not going to happen to me’ as if it were not.
Herrera loved to play guitar in his church and recently graduated from Benito Juarez High School in Chicago, where he was a member of the JROTC program, according to the vehicle.