5 Southern California siblings lost both un-vaccinated parents to COVID-19 within weeks

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 75% of U.S.-based adults have been at least partially vaccinated for the COVID-19 coronavirus. But the pandemic continues to be deadly in the United States — especially among the unvaccinated — and more than one family member can easily be affected. In Southern California's Inland Empire east of Los Angeles, for example, five siblings lost both of their parents to COVID-19 within weeks.

Génesis Miranda Miramontes, a reporter for Los Angeles' KTLA-TV Channel 5, explains, "Daniel Macias, a 39-year-old middle school teacher, was diagnosed with COVID-19 soon after his wife, Davy Macias, a 37-year-old San Bernardino County nurse who had recently given birth to their fifth child before dying from COVID-19 late last month. The couple leaves behind their newborn daughter and four other children, ages seven, five, three and two. The children are being cared for by their grandparents, family members said."

According to Miramontes, Daniel Macias "was diagnosed not long after his wife" and "was hospitalized soon after, according to family members."

"His wife, Davy, was a labor and delivery nurse at Kaiser Permanente in the city of Fontana," Miramontes notes. "She had worked throughout the pandemic until she was hospitalized with the coronavirus while seven months pregnant, family members said."

The current COVID-19 surge in the U.S. is being driven largely by the highly contagious Delta variant, which is what Daniel and Davy Macias were infected with, according to a GoFundMe page.

Miramontes reports, "The couple tested positive for COVID-19 after having traveled to the beach and a water park with their children, Davy's brother, Vong Serey, told KTLA. Around the time Davy was 34 weeks pregnant, six days after she was hospitalized, the doctor delivered the baby about six weeks early, Serey said. Davy never got the chance to meet her newborn daughter, according to the GoFundMe page."

Serey was reluctant to be vaccinated for COVID-19 but changed his mind after Daniel and Davy Macias were infected.

Serey told KTLA, "COVID doesn't play by the rules. It doesn't matter — you're young, old — it can hit anybody at this point…. I did change my mind. When it hits this close to home, it does, it really affects you. It opens your eyes."