105-Year-Old Living On Prayers And Gin-Soaked Raisins

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, NJ — Lucia DeClerck has had a lot to celebrate in recent weeks, including turning 105 years old.

But in addition to being the oldest resident at Mystic Meadows Rehab and Nursing Center, DeClerck is also a coronavirus survivor. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Jan. 25, the same day she celebrated her most recent birthday, facility Administrator Michael Neiman told Patch. The diagnosis came a day after she received her second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Despite testing positive, DeClerck has bounced back and has returned to being her amazing self, needing just two weeks to recover with her bout with COVID-19, Neiman said.

"It's amazing," Neiman told Patch. "She's alert and oriented. She can have a conversation with you about anything."

In addition to her ever-present rosary beads, DeClerck also has another secret to long life, according to The New York Times, which reported that the New Jersey woman has eaten nine gin-soaked raisins as part of her daily regimen.

She has taken her daily dose for much of her life, the Times reported, as part of a routine that includes brushing her teeth with baking soda and drinking aloe juice straight from the container.

But DeClerck — who attends Mass weekly and for whom the staff refers to the facility's chapel as "Lucia's Chapel" — doesn't go without the raisins soaked in alcohol.

“Fill a jar,” she told the newspaper. “Nine raisins a day after it sits for nine days.”

DeClerck also has a fan in New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who praised her in a briefing after a phone conversation with the state's oldest living resident.

Like everyone around her, Murphy was amazed at DeClerck's tenacity and everything she has lived through — including her recent bout with the coronavirus.

"This woman has lived through the Spanish Flu, COVID-19, two world wars, and God knows what else in between," Murphy said Monday. "What an uplifting conversation."

The Latest

A third coronavirus vaccine candidate took a step toward possible emergency use authorization on Wednesday after an analysis by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found it provides strong protection against severe disease and death caused by COVID-19.

The one-shot coronavirus vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson was found to have a 72 percent overall efficacy rate in the United States, according to a New York Times report. The vaccine also showed 86 percent efficacy against severe forms of COVID-19 in the United States, and 82 percent against severe disease in South Africa.

The FDA is scheduled to meet Friday to decide whether to give emergency-use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's vaccine. Authorization could come as soon as Saturday, the Times reported.

Once emergency use authorization is granted, Johnson & Johnson said the company is ready to deliver doses to more than 20 million Americans by the end of March.

As of Wednesday, more than 65 million people doses of the vaccines have been administered across the United States, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Meanwhile, the CDC is expected to release guidance about how restrictions will change for Americans once they have been fully vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Tuesday.

Although Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he expects the recommendations soon, he doesn't know a precise date of release.

“I will be able to answer the logical questions that people are asking about that,” Fauci told CNN. “I agree, they’re questions that we need to answer pretty soon because more and more people are going to be vaccinated, every single day there’ll be more and more people, and they’re going to be asking that question.”

The CDC has already said that vaccinated people do not need to follow the same 10-day quarantine recommendations as others if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

As Congress continues to negotiate additional virus relief for Americans, more than 150 senior executives from some of America's largest companies have lined up behind President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, according to a letter obtained by CNN.

"Previous federal relief measures have been essential, but more must be done to put the country on a trajectory for a strong, durable recovery," the executives wrote in the letter addressed to bipartisan congressional leaders that will be sent Wednesday. "Congress should act swiftly and on a bipartisan basis to authorize a stimulus and relief package along the lines of the Biden-Harris administration's proposed American Rescue Plan."

Among those signed onto the letter are David Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs; Stephen Schwartzman, the chairman and CEO of Blackstone; Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google; John Zimmer, the co-founder and president of Lyft; Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast; and John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T.

Newest Numbers

As of midday Wednesday, the United States had reported more than 28.2 million cases and nearly 503,300 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 2,240 deaths and 69,982 new cases of coronavirus had been reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new reported cases have fallen 19.5 percent, new reported deaths have fallen 15.5 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 13.2 percent.

More than 82.1 million vaccine doses have been distributed and more than 65 million administered in the United States as of Wednesday, according to the CDC. More than 44.5 million people have received one dose, and nearly 19.9 million have received two.

Currently, 55,058 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Wednesday, 27 states and U.S. territories 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.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or The Washington Post

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