'She is a hope': 104-year-old woman beats COVID twice, gets applause from hospital staff

A 104-year-old Colombian woman received a standing ovation from the hospital staff after recovering from COVID-19 for the second time. As per reports, Carmen Hernandez was first diagnosed with the novel coronavirus infection in June 2020 and was treated in her San Jose nursing home. The second time, she reportedly spent at least 21 days in San Rafael de Tunja University Hospital’s intensive care unit until she was finally discharged this week. Celebrating the 104-year-old’s recovery from highly infectious disease, the medical staff at the hospital lined up along the corridors of the hospital while she was being transported through on a hospital bed.

While experts have declared very early on during the COVID-19 pandemic last year that elderly people are more vulnerable to viral disease, Hernandez’s determination was lauded by several internet users as well for tackling COVID-19  twice. The 104-year-old was brought outside the hospital ventilated with a plastic cover over the bed and the staff was covered in personal protective equipment (PPE) continued to applause for her. Notable, she contracted SARS-CoV-2 for the second time in March after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in February.

‘Excellent physical capability’

Gina Gomez, a health worker at the San Jose nursing home told the local reporters that Hernandez has an “excellent physical capability” because she tackled the coronavirus infection not once, but two times since the pandemic rocked the world last year.

Gomez said, “She is an elderly patient with an excellent physical capability because she resisted the virus for the second time. Thank God she has done very well and has beaten this virus.”

Further, Yamit Noé Hurtado, the director of the hospital told Caracol Radio noted that the 104-year-old is “hope” considering her advanced age. Hurtado said that Hernandez emerged fully recovered from COVID-19 after spending 21 days in the ICU despite having contracted the virus last year. As per reports, apart from beating COVID-19 twice, Hernandez had also recovered from an aggressive form of skin cancer. 

Hurtado said, “Precisely because of her advanced age, for us she is a hope. This woman managed to come out fully recovered from the coronavirus in this first reinfection. We had to give him assistance in the ICU for 21 days.”

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