107-Year-Old N.J. Woman Beats Coronavirus After Surviving Childhood Case Of ‘Spanish Flu’

TOPLINE

 A 107-year-old New Jersey woman is the latest centenarian to win a battle with coronavirus, the Asbury Park Press reported, beating a virus that is most dangerous for those over the age of 65.

KEY FACTS

Key background

While people ages 65 and older are more likely to develop complications as a result of the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control, there have been multiple stories of centenarians surviving the virus. Another woman living in a New Jersey care home, 108-year-old Sylvia Goldsholl, recovered from the virus just two weeks after being diagnosed this spring. “I survived everything because I was determined to survive,” Goldsholl told local news station News 12 New Jersey. One of the earliest examples from the beginning of the pandemic was a 101-year-old Italian man, who like Del Priore, beat coronavirus in late March after having been infected with the Spanish Flu as a child. A 113-year-old woman in Spain, Maria Branyas, is reported to be both Spain’s oldest living person and the world’s oldest coronavirus survivor. According to the CDC, people older than 85 are 630 times more likely to die from coronavirus complications and on August 1, the CDC reported that 44,974 of the U.S.’s 139,054 confirmed deaths attributed to coronavirus at the time were people aged 85 and older, making it the age group with the most victims.

Further reading

She beat the Spanish flu, and now 107-year-old Middletown woman beat COVID-19 (Asbury Park Press)

COVID survivors: Centenarians across the world celebrate after winning their battle against virus (ABC7)

Coronavirus: Centenarians recovering from the virus (BBC)

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