‘Jasmin was already infected before she came to our house’

“This virus is an enemy that the entire country underestimated from day one and we have paid the price dearly.”

—Andrew Cuomo

 

By Alex P. Vidal

 

IT wasn’t true that Jasmin Abella Jamero Layson, the former Iloilo City Hall employee who succumbed to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) at the New York Presbyterian Hospital in Queens on February 20, got infected after she attended a birthday party in a friend’s house last month.

This was the clarification made February 22 by Layson’s friend, Ana “Becbec” Geroy, who claimed that “before Jasmin came to our house, she was already coughing and was already probably infected (with Covid-19).”

Geroy said she and her family—her husband and two children—became positive after Jasmin’s visit. 

“Some of our friends were also infected and many of us nearly died had it not been for the proper medication we had undertaken,” Geroy, who works as caregiver in Long Island City, New York, told this writer over the phone. “We are also the victims.”

At least seven others have been infected, but only Jasmin died after 24 days in the hospital’s ICU, it was learned.

“My family had also suffered so much,” Geroy bemoaned. “It’s not fair to claim that Jasmin got the virus from our house. It was her who must have infected us, not us infecting her.”

Geroy said being infected with Covid-19 was “too much to bear for me because I am a cancer survivor.”

She admitted they used to have a weekly “bonding” with friends, including Jasmin, in her house in Queens and noticed that Jasmin, 67, was already showing signs of being sick.

“Jasmin was really my friend and she was a regular visitor in our house,” Geroy stressed.

 

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Geroy, also from Iloilo City like the victim, said they theorized Jasmin had been carrying the deadly virus because they learned that Jasmin’s client and co-worker had also been tested positive of coronavirus.

Jasmin worked as caregiver like Geroy.

Geroy claimed she had been supporting and helping Jasmin find a job as caregiver when she was alive.

Geroy said she learned that Jasmin’s condition must have deteriorated and she became vulnerable to Covid-19 because of her underlying medical conditions.

Being a new disease, currently there are limited data and information about the impact of many underlying medical conditions on the risk for severe illness from Covid-19. 

Based on what we know at this time, adults of any age with the following conditions might be at an increased risk for severe illness from the virus that causes Covid-19.

Jasmin was scheduled to be cremated on February 21 as a health protocol for those who died of Covid-19, but friends who helped facilitate her hospitalization were still waiting for her birth certificate, according to Jasmin’s friend Julie Potente.

Ray Sauter, a Texas-based husband of their fellow former city hall employee, Leocita Talanas-Sauter, was the one who facilitated Layson’s cremation, added Potente. 

Leocita will bring Layson’s ashes to the Philippines once everything has been finalized, Potente said.

“I just want to make it clear that before Jasmin’s friends from the city hall came forward, Leocita and I were the ones who did everything for Jasmin’s medical needs,” Geroy said.

Jasmin’s former city hall co-workers who are also now based in the US and who helped chip in to help Jasmin were: Lynnette Espinosa-Baranda, Mayette Geremias, Cyleehn Gumban, Marie Tez Grande-Tulio, Elsie del Rosario, Suzette Dumaran, Jocelyn Cabaluna, Nieva Seruelo, and Julie Potente.

 

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As cases of coronavirus reportedly continued to decline in New York, health authorities continued to exhort the people to limit their interactions with others as much as possible.

We have been also told to take precautions to prevent getting Covid-19 when we do interact with others.

“If you start feeling sick and think you may have Covid-19, get in touch with your healthcare provider within 24 hours,” advised the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.  

“If you don’t have a healthcare provider, contact your nearest community health center-external icon or health department.”

We have been continuously told to encourage social distancing by limiting the number of people we  interact with and ensure we keep safe distances (at least 6 feet) between us when possible and if not in the same household.

We must also visit with our friends and family outdoors, when possible. 

If this is not feasible, we should make sure the room or space is well-ventilated (for example, open windows or doors) and large enough to accommodate social distancing.

We must also arrange tables and chairs to allow for social distancing. People from the same household can be in groups together and don’t need to be 6 feet apart from each other.

We must also consider activities where social distancing can be maintained, like sidewalk chalk art or yard games.

We must also try to avoid close contact with our visitors. For example, don’t shake hands, elbow bump, or hug. Instead wave and verbally greet them.

If possible, we must avoid others who are not wearing masks or ask others around us to wear masks.

We must consider keeping a list of people we visited or who visited us and when the visit occurred. This will help with contact tracing if someone becomes sick.

We must limit the time we have close contact with visitors to less than 15-20 minutes as much as possible.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)