Daughter Of Riverside County Coronavirus Victim Speaks Out

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The daughter of an elderly woman who was one of the first to die from the new coronavirus in Riverside County has opened up about her mother's final days, saying that she was "more than a virus."

"It’ll never be the same. Her children and her grandchildren were her world," the daughter, identified only as Lisa, told NBC Palm Springs.

Lisa's mother, who was 73, had been moved to a senior care facility in Rancho Mirage early this month, where she quickly began running a fever. Within days, she had been diagnosed with COVID-19, and was no longer able to breathe on her own.

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Lisa, who lives out of state, rushed to be by her mother's bedside before she was taken off life support. But due to the infection risk, she and her sister had to watch from behind glass as their mother took her final breaths, she told NBC.

Now, with gatherings of 10 or more banned in Riverside County, she is unable to hold a funeral. And she wants others to know they should take the virus seriously.

"This is real and anybody who thinks differently, tell my mom it’s not," she told NBC.

Riverside County had confirmed 16 cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, including three deaths.

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