A mum-of-eighteen accidentally infected 17 of her children with coronavirus after contracting at first ‘silent’ infection.
Brittany Jencik, of Penfield, New York says she was asymptomatic and only realised she had caught the deadly bug when her children began falling ill.
The US mum of eighteen kids, some of whom are adopted, said she only began feeling really unwell later into the illness.
When the virus finally hit her – it hit hard, she told local ABC13 news affiliate WHAM.
Seventeen of her children live with her at home.
Ms Jencik said unknowingly contracted the virus around five weeks ago without ealising it at first.
It was “like a freight train,” she said.
“It was terrifying. I was a little ahead of them in the timing of it all. I was as afraid of my life as I had ever been, and not much scares me.”
She said her family has been self-isolating for the past month and called in a friend for help to professionally clean her home, worrying the virus could linger on surfaces.
The cleaner went in wearing hazmat and gasmasks to clean the home for two hours while the family waited outdoors.
Research has been unclear in the early stages on whether the virus can strike the same victim twice.
There is some hope people become immune after contracting Covid-19, but scientists are still working to understand the novel coronavirus.
Ms Jencik said having the home cleaned was a no-brainer.
She said: “I needed to know from my mama heart that I was protecting the people I love to the best extent I possibly could.”
The US has become the world epicentre of the deadly pandemic.
New York state, where the Jencik family lives, has led the states in coronavirus infections.
The United States has by far the world’s largest number of cases with more than 706,000 and some 36,000 deaths.
New York state accounts for nearly half of those deaths.
As a result, New York governor Andrew Cuomo earlier this week ordered New Yorkers to wear face-masks or protective coverings whenever they are in public and cannot socially distance.
While the governor tentatively declared today the tide may beginning to turn on the virus as New York battles to get the virus in control, unrest is emerging elsewhere in the US.
Texas today became the latest US state hit by a protest largely from supporters of President Donald Trump who took to the streets demanding lockdowns end as they are anxious to get back to work. (Mirror, UK)
