Source: NJ.com; Morning Call Online; RLS Media
The mother of the New Jersey family that has already lost two members to the coronavirus has died after being infected with COVID-19.
Grace Fusco, 73, of Freehold, died at CentraState Medical Center following the deaths of two of her children.
Carmine Fusco, 55, died Wednesday afternoon at St. Luke’s University Hospital-Bethlehem Campus, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, five days after his sister Rita Fusco-Jackson, also in her 50s, died from the virus at CentraState Medical Center.
While the majority of his family lived in New Jersey, Carmine Fusco lived for the last seven or eight years in Pennsylvania, where he trained harness racing horses in Wind Gap. Rita Fusco-Jackson was both a parishioner and a teacher in the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine confirmation program, the Freehold church said.
Their sister Andriana Fusco doesn’t know how her brother contracted the virus, but she says it wasn’t from a family gathering in New Jersey, as some news outlets have reported.
“There was no party, there were no people in from Italy,” she says. “I myself have not seen my brother since February, and the last time he was even in New Jersey was March 3.”
Carmine, Rita, and Andriana were among eleven children. Nineteen members of the family, including spouses and children, have also been tested. Five other family members have fallen ill, with several in critical condition.
Several other Fusco family members remain hospitalized with COVID-19. Grace’s daughter, Elizabeth Fusco, and other members of the Fusco family remain in quarantine.
A Comcast technician who works in Bloomfield has tested positive for COVID-19 Coronavirus. The town health department is working closely with Comcast to track and contact all Bloomfield customers that were serviced by the technician between March 3 and March 6.
Any resident who came into contact with the technician will be informed about next steps, including potentially being tested themselves, beginning a self quarantine or other actions depending on each situation.