Orphan-Maker: Boy, 5, Loses His 'Perfect Parents' 100 Days Apart

ACROSS AMERICA — The cruelties of the coronavirus are well-documented. But some of those hurt the most by it are never sick.

When Raiden Gonzalez turned 5 on Sunday in San Antonio, Texas, what he wanted most of all had been taken away by the coronavirus.

COVID-19 had orphaned the boy.

"We just can’t believe they’re both gone within a short period of time,” Rozie Salinas, Raiden's maternal grandmother, told news station KSAT.

“He goes, ‘I just wish I could have them both back,’” she said. “They were the perfect parents. They were inseparable.”

His 33-year-old dad, Adan, died in June after spending nearly a month in the intensive care unit. His mom, Mariah, 29, was healthy, but the virus got her, too, after symptoms came on suddenly.

She died in October, a day after she was admitted to the hospital.

"This is a milestone birthday — he's been very upset because his mom and dad are not here to celebrate with him," the boy's great-aunt Margie Bryant told news station WOAI.

Adan and Mariah Gonzalez are two of the more than 257,000 Americans who have died of the virus as of Monday.

Adan Gonzalez died in June after contracting the virus while on the job as a truck driver, Salinas told the San Antonio ABC affiliate. Salinas' daughter, Mariah Gonzalez, died at age 29 in October just days after she contracted it and was taken to the hospital.

The Latest

The race for a coronavirus vaccine took another step forward Monday as drugmaker AstraZeneca said its vaccine candidate, developed by Oxford University, is up to 90 percent effective, the Washington Post and others have reported.

AstraZeneca is the third pharmaceutical company to tout its vaccine's effectiveness in as many weeks. Both Pfizer and Moderna have said clinical trials of their vaccines have shown effective rates of at or near 95 percent.

But even when a vaccine is made available for public use, doctors say people should be prepared to experience side effects after taking it. Both Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines will require second doses.

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer of the American Medical Association said getting the vaccine will be no walk in the park.

“We really need to make patients aware that this is not going to be a walk in the park,” Fryhofer said, according to a CNBC report. “They are going to know they had a vaccine. They are probably not going to feel wonderful. But they’ve got to come back for that second dose.”

The vaccine developments come as coronavirus case and death counts continue to climb across the country, and states have imposed restrictions to help limit the virus's spread.

In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown has urged residents to call the police on people who violate statewide restrictions there. Social gatherings in Oregon are capped at a six-person maximum, with violators facing up to 30 days in jail or a fine of up to $1,250, according to a KGW8 report.

The governor compared calling authorities of these restrictions to noise violation complaints.

“This is no different than what happens if there's a party down the street and it's keeping everyone awake,” Brown told the Portland television station. “What do neighbors do (in that case)? They call law enforcement because it's too noisy. This is just like that. It's like a violation of a noise ordinance.”

Several other states have enacted new coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks, with 37 having mandated the wearing of masks or other face coverings while in public and when social distancing is not possible, according to an AARP report.

In Boise, Idaho's largest city and the state capital, not wearing one could result in an arrest.

A new order from Boise Mayor Lauren McLean instructs police to ticket or arrest people who refuse to wear masks and refuse to leave local businesses when asked, KATU-2 reported.

The order could also lead to a business losing their business license if staffers and customers refuse to wear masks and a "clear and immediate threat" is posed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has urged Americans to avoid travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. "Airports, bus stations, train stations, public transport, gas stations and rest stops are all places travelers can be exposed to the virus in the air and on surfaces," CDC guidance states.

Still, millions of Americans are already on the move for the upcoming Thursday holiday.

About 1 million Americans a day packed airports and planes over the weekend, according to The Associated Press.

The number of people flying for Thanksgiving is down by more than half from last year because of the rapidly worsening surge, but the 3 million who went through U.S. airport checkpoints from Friday through Sunday marked the biggest crowds since mid-March, when the COVID-19 crisis took hold in the United States.

Monday's Numbers

At least 871 new coronavirus deaths and 154,656 new cases were reported in the United States on Monday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has seen an 11.1 percent increase in cases and averaged more than 170,000 cases each day.

As of Tuesday, 46 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 12.4 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday morning, and more than 257,900 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

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