An entire family from Valladolid, northwest Spain, has been affected by the Coronavirus, including all eleven children.
The Cebrian Gervas family is now under strict isolation at home after every member tested positive for the virus.
Irene Gervas, the mother, was the first to test positive for COVID-19, followed by her husband, Jose Maria Cebrian, and their eleven children: Carmen (15), Fernando (14), Luiz (12), Juan Pablo (11), twins Miguel and Manuel (10), Alvaro (8), Irene (5), Alicia (4), Helena (3), and Jose Maria (1).
Jose Maria Cebrian, the father, shared with local media, “The children fell ill one by one. Some recovered better than others. It takes five or six days for the virus to show symptoms. As they started feeling unwell, we began to connect the dots.”
“In our case, the kids are sick for a day, they have a headache, they vomit, and then they feel better. The next day, they don’t even remember being ill,” he added.
Since testing positive on March 14, the family has been strictly isolated to prevent potential spread of the virus, given the high number of infected family members living under one roof.
Cebrian explained, “The doctor advised us to remain in absolute lockdown for at least two more weeks due to the high viral load we have. If we leave the house, we could become a source of infection in Valladolid.”
He mentioned that only their son is allowed to go out to the pharmacy, as long as he wears protective gear. “He is the only one who goes out a bit. I take out the rubbish, and he is the messenger. Our groceries are delivered to the garage, and my son goes down to pick them up.”
The children are attending classes at home using laptops, tablets, and mobile phones.
Jose Maria emphasized the importance of maintaining a sense of order during this time, saying, “It is important they do not feel like this is a chaotic situation, so they have classes from Monday to Friday.”
Spain has reported over 117,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 11,000 deaths.