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A married couple in California died of complications from COVID-19 on the same day earlier this month.
The couple, Alvaro Fernandez, 44, and Sylvia Fernandez, 42, of Loma Linda, California, tested positive for the virus days before they died Dec. 19, according to NBC Los Angeles.
The couple had been together since high school, married for 25 years, and are the parents of four children.
"They were high school sweethearts. They've been together since she was 15," Salvador Fernandez, Alvaro's brother, told the news station. "One couldn't live without the other."
According to a GoFundMe page for Alvaro and Sylvia's family, the two died just hours apart.
"Their love story began as High School sweethearts at the tender age of fifteen. Their love grew over the years as their family grew, adding amazing children to their lives," the post states.
"This great love story sadly ended hours apart from each other," it added.
Both Alvaro and Sylvia were not vaccinated against COVID-19, according to NBC Los Angeles.
"He wanted to wait and do more research," Alvaro's sister, Alma Hernandez, told the station. "He Googled information. He didn't want to believe everything that was on the news."
"This is kind of an eye-opener for everybody in my family that whoever is not vaccinated definitely should have their vaccinations," she added.
According to the station, Alvaro suffered from health issues, including diabetes.
According to the GoFundMe post, two of the couple's children are 17 years old.
"This will be a loss felt for a very long time. To be left without their parents, and to have to carry the weight of being pushed into adulthood while [they're] still children themselves," the post states.
Newsweek reached out to the couple's family for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication Thursday evening.
In recent weeks, California, like many states across the country, has seen an uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads.
Last week, hospitalizations in the state rose about 12 percent to 4,401, though that's about half as many as the summer peak of nearly 9,000 caused by the Delta variant.
On Tuesday, California became the first state in the nation to record 5 million COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 75,000 have died from the virus since the pandemic began in 2020, according to the state's health department.
According to statewide data, 71 percent of California residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
About the writer
Xander Landen is a Newsweek weekend reporter. His focus is often U.S. politics, but he frequently covers other issues including ... Read more