The family didn’t tell anyone they were sick until Rodriguez’s husband drove her to the hospital on July 12 after she began experiencing shortness of breath. Rodriguez was admitted to the ICU, and her husband was admitted to another ward, Jones said.

By then, the rest of the family stepped in to bring groceries and medicine to the couple’s four children, who were all infected and quarantining at home. The youngest child was the only one to experience mild symptoms, Jones said. The rest were asymptomatic.

At one point, Lawrence Rodriguez’s condition appeared to be improving, but a couple of days after he was admitted, he was rushed to the ICU. He requested a coronavirus vaccine shortly before being put on a ventilator, Jones said, but it was also too late for him. He died Aug. 2.

By then, Lydia Rodriguez was fully dependent on an oxygen mask that prevented her from talking to her children, who called to check in and sing Christian hymns to lift her spirits.