A second person in one New Jersey family has died after being hospitalized with the novel coronavirus.
Carmine Fusco, a horse racing trainer, died on Wednesday morning, Roseann Paradiso Fodera, a cousin and family attorney, told NJ Advance Media.
It comes just five days after his sister, 55-year-old Rita Fusco-Jackson, also passed away before testing positive for the virus.
Five others are hospitalized at CentraState Medical Center in New Jersey, all with COVID-19 – the disease caused by the virus – and four in critical condition.
Both deaths within the family are connected to John Brennan, a horse trainer who lived in Little Ferry and was the first New Jersey resident to die after testing positive for the virus.
Carmine Fusco, a horse trainer (right), is the second person in a New Jersey family to die of coronavirus. He died on Wednesday at Luke’s University Hospital-Bethlehem Campus, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Rita Fusco-Jackson, 55 (pictured), a religious education teacher who had been hospitalized at CentraState Medical Cneter was the first to die, on Friday. Five are still hospitalized there – four in critical condition
Fusco-Jackson was hospitalized at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, when she died.
Five family members remain there, according to NJ Advance Media. Four are in critical condition, and one is stable.
According to Fusco-Jackson’s sister, Elizabeth Fusco, the five at CentraState are her mother and four siblings.
‘This has been devastating for all of us,’ she told NJ Advance Media.
‘Our hearts are broken over losing our sister, Rita. We just need help in saving our family members with life-saving medication.’
At the time of the interview, her brother, Carmine, was in critical condition at Luke’s University Hospital-Bethlehem Campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania before dying on Wednesday morning.
Fodera, the family attorney, said the situation is ‘surreal.’
‘To imagine a week ago to get a phone call like this – if someone told me this story, I wouldn’t believe it,’ she told NJ Advance Media. ‘It’s inconceivable to me.’
According to Elizabeth, the victims’ sister, 19 spouses and children of the hospitalized family members are awaiting coronavirus test results.
Both deaths within the Fusco family are linked to the first coronavirus death in New Jersey: that of 69-year-old horse trainer John Brennan.
Both deaths are linked to 69-year-old John Brennan (pictured), a horse trainer who was the first New Jersey resident to die of coronavirus
He was hospitalized at Hackensack University Medical Center before passing away, NJ Advance Media reported.
He had multiple underlying health conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure and emphysema, putting him at higher risk of death.
State officials says he was revived on March 9 after going into cardiac arrest, but died on March 10 after suffering a second cardiac arrest.
Worldwide, more than 217,000 people have been infected and more than 8,900 people have died.
In the US, there are more than 7,800 confirmed cases in all 50 states and 121 deaths.