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Girl, 4, dies of Covid 'passed on by anti-vax mum'

A four-year-old girl has died from Covid after likely being infected by her anti-vaxxer mum.

Kali Cook, from Galveston, Texas, died in her sleep last week just hours after developing a fever, her mum Karra Harwood has told local publications.

Ms Harwood told the Houston Chronicle she and her fiancé had tested positive for Covid the day prior.

Despite trying to stay away from Kali, her brother and five-month-old sister, all children contracted the virus.

“Kali was perfectly fine, and then she was gone,” the grieving mum told the Houston Chronicle.

“It took her so fast.”

Kali Cook, from Galveston, Texas, who died from Covid.
Kali Cook, from Galveston, Texas, died in her sleep on Tuesday just hours after developing a fever. Source: GoFundMe

Mum now regrets anti-vax stance

Ms Harwood told the Galveston County Daily News she has been a staunch anti-vaxxer so none of the family had received the jab.

“I was one of the people that was anti, I was against it,” she said.

“Now, I wish I never was.”

Health officials have said that although Kali had started pre-kindergarten classes, there is no indication that is where she was infected with Covid.

The only people with Covid that she came into contact with was her family, publications have reported.

Kali is the first child to die from the virus in Galveston County, which has seen 470 other deaths, health officials said.

Ms Harwood, who is out of work because of her infection, has created a GoFundMe to cover Kali’s funeral costs.

Protesters wave at cars that honk at them to support the protest against Houston Methodist Hospital system's rule of firing any employee who is not immunised. Source: AP
Protesters against Houston Methodist Hospital system's rule of firing any employee who is not immunised. Source: AP

“Our beautiful baby girl gained her wings this morning. Her heart was too pure for this cruel world and God decided he needed another beautiful angel on his side,” she wrote on the fundraiser.

“We are all so broken and lost and just trying to figure out how we are gonna get through this life without her light.

“Our family has covid and is out of work due to it, so we are overly stressed and hurting. Anything will help and Kali would be so thankful to rest in comfort and wait to see us all again.”

Climbing Covid cases wipe out months of work

Covid-19 deaths and cases in the US have climbed back to levels not seen since last winter, erasing months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for his sweeping new vaccination requirements.

The cases — driven by the Delta variant combined with resistance among some Americans to getting the vaccine — are concentrated mostly in the southern states.

While one-time hot spots like Florida and Louisiana are improving, infection rates are soaring in Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, fuelled by children now back in school, loose mask restrictions and low vaccination levels.

The dire situation in some hospitals is starting to sound like January’s infection peak: Surgeries cancelled in hospitals in Washington state and Utah. Severe staff shortages in Kentucky and Alabama. A lack of beds in Tennessee. Intensive care units at or over capacity in Texas.

The deteriorating picture nine months into the nation’s vaccination drive has angered and frustrated medical professionals who see the heartbreak as preventable.

The vast majority of the dead and the hospitalised have been unvaccinated, in what has proved to be a hard lesson for some families.

With AP

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