NJ Man Shares Timeline Of Dad's Death From Coronavirus

CRANFORD, NJ — A Cranford, NJ native who recently lost his father to coronavirus posted his story on social media on Sunday evening, hoping to warn others about two things: one, coronavirus can attack a relatively healthy individual and cause that person to deteriorate quickly, and two, a negative test result can be false.

The young man, Jacob Solomon, who graduated from Cranford High School in 1999, shared his father Stephen's story on Facebook. He explained Monday morning that the family has lived in their Cranford house since 1978. Jacob now lives in Los Angeles.

"If hearing about my dad changes people's minds," he said Monday, "that will bring us all some comfort."

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Jacob stressed that the virus isn't fatal only to "a certain population with pre-existing conditions. My Dad’s doctors, on the front line [at Overlook Hospital in Summit] told us they have no idea why the virus kills some and not others. It’s like, if the virus wants to kill, it kills."

Stephen was 72.

Jacob's post was shared more than 1,800 times by Monday night.

The post started off, "We buried my father today. It was surreal. Two weeks before he died he was healthy, still working and going to the gym regularly. My father died from complications related to #COVID19."

Jacob gave this timeline:

• March 12: Stephen Solomon developed a cough. He did not have a fever or other symptoms.
• March 14: He was notified that he had been exposed to the virus on March 2.
• March 15: Stephen started having trouble breathing.
• March 16: His daughter took him to the hospital. He was tested for the virus and diagnosed with bacterial pneumonia.
• March 18: Stephen's family was told that he was negative for the virus and he was sent home. "My mother and sister did the best they could to care for him," Stephen wrote. "They did not worry about protecting themselves, [as] he was negative."
• March 20 at 1:30 a.m.: Stephen's family called an ambulance to bring him back to hospital. "By the time he got to the hospital he was purple and only had 40 percent oxygen," Jacob wrote. "He was tested again for #coronavirus. He was chemically sedated and paralyzed and put on a ventilator. A few days later we learned that he was positive."
• March 24: Stephen passed away.

Jacob wrote, "During the five days he was in the ICU we were unable to see him. We couldn’t even go into the hospital because of the restrictions currently in place."

He said, "I share his story because I want people to know that you can’t trust the test! #negativemeansnothing. My father exposed the hospital floor, potentially the entire hospital because the doctors and nurses trusted the test results ... The results came from the NJ Department of Health!"

Jacob's mother and sister were tested on Sunday, March 22. His mother was told that she was positive on March 24. "My sister, STILL has not received her results," Jacob wrote Sunday. "Since they were exposed, they were not allowed to attend my dad’s funeral."

He added, "We could not be together as a family and mourn my dad together. Only five of us could be at his burial today. This virus is not a joke. The media likes to say that Covid is fatal among a certain population with pre-existing conditions. FALSE!

"My Dad’s doctors, on the front line told us they have no idea why the virus kills some and not others," he added. "It’s like, if the virus wants to kill, it kills. This post is public, please share it. Share it to save lives. #stayhome #negativemeansnothing #donttrustthetest #nursesareheros #superherodoctors #ilovefrontlinERs #wearecarriers"

In an earlier post on March 24, Jacob wrote, "Today, at 4:37 p.m., the strongest man I know passed away. My father instilled in me a strong work ethic, Jewish values and a love of learning and travel ... My father overcame prostate cancer and quintuple bypass. On Thursday, March 12 my father developed a slight cough."

The CDC has released worldwide statistics on the demographics of coronavirus sufferers, although they only run through March 16. While the numbers show that older people are more likely to be hospitalized, officials have said they are seeing more cases of young people who are seriously ill — and a baby in Illinois died from the virus this past week.

On Monday afternoon, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said that 198 residents have died from the disease, including eight in one nursing home. More than 16,000 are confirmed to have it. He and other officials have stressed social distancing to slow the virus' spread and avoid overburdening hospitals.

Experts say that the novel coronavirus, because it's new, is more lethal and much harder to treat than the flu.

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

Residents who have questions about coronavirus can call 211 or contact the State of New Jersey's hotline at 1 (800) 222-1222.

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