Mom Dies Of Coronavirus Before She Could Hold Newborn Baby

ACROSS AMERICA — Every one of the 286,000-plus Americans who have died from the coronavirus was someone's mother, father, son, daughter or other loved one. But Erika Becerra, a 33-year-old mother of two who died at a hospital in Detroit last week, never had the chance to meet one of her children.

That's because she died just weeks after giving birth — before she ever had a chance to hold, or even meet, little Diego Antonio.

Becerra was eight months pregnant when she came down with the virus, her brother, Michael Avilez, told KCBS-2 Los Angeles. In order to save the baby's life, doctors had to induce her on Nov. 15.

“The weekend came along, and the doctor saw she wasn’t getting any better,” Avilez told the TV news station. “They had to think about the baby.”

“She had a normal labor; she gave birth to her son but didn’t get to hold him because right after she gave birth, that’s when they put in the tube — and then from there she just started declining,” Avilez said.

Becerra, who grew up in Los Angeles and moved to Detroit just recently, had no other underlying conditions other than her pregnancy, her brother said. She now leaves behind not only the newborn Diego but also a 1-year-old daughter and her husband as well.

“Towards the last moments, she was tearing up," said Avilez, whose family rushed from California to Michigan to see their loved one before she died. "I know she heard us as we prayed for her, we talked to her, we comforted her in the last moments.”

The virus has taken now hundreds of thousands of American lives like hers.

“It is a real thing," Avilez said. "I don’t know why people don’t comprehend that.”

The Latest

Coronavirus case counts have topped 15 million in the United States as the vaccine touted by Pfizer to be about 95 percent effective nears possible approval for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. Documents released by U.S. regulators on Tuesday show the FDA has provided positive reviews of the vaccine, touting not only its effectiveness but also its safety.

The FDA is set to meet Thursday on the possibility of approving an emergency use of the vaccine. Canada approved use of the vaccine on Wednesday, the Washington Post and others have reported.

Americans who have been affected financially by the coronavirus pandemic may get a second stimulus check after all. Just two days after lawmakers on Capitol Hill hinted that the next federal economic relief bill would not include another check to all Americans, the Trump administration has called for a second one-time payment.

President Donald Trump and his administration are reportedly pushing GOP leaders to include $600 direct payments to cash-strapped Americans, according to a report from The Washington Post. Lawmakers on Sunday did say the new measure would provide roughly $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits.

Trump's quest to overturn the 2020 presidential election result took another blow Tuesday when Jenna Ellis, one of the president's personal attorneys, tested positive for the virus. Ellis' positive test came just two days after another Trump lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was hospitalized after a positive coronavirus test, and Ellis herself vowed Trump's legal battles would continue even though Giuliani had tested positive.

Cases and deaths due to coronavirus continue to skyrocket across the states. As of Tuesday, states reporting the highest number of cases per capita are Rhode Island, Indiana, Utah, South Dakota and Alaska, according to data from The New York Times.

In North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper has imposed a curfew on residents as a way to help slow the virus's spread. The governor’s “modified stay-at-home order” requires people to stay home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for essential trips, according to a report from The Times.

The number of people hospitalized in the Tar Heel State has doubled over the past month, and deaths there are at an all-time high as well.

In sports, the virus is responsible for the cancellation of Saturday's rivalry football game between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University. Officials at Michigan cited an increasing number of positive virus cases among student-athletes as reason to cancel the game. This will be the first time since 1917 that "The Game" won't be played.

Newest Numbers

At least 2,594 new coronavirus deaths and more than 219,282 new daily cases were reported on Tuesday, according to a Washington Post database. Over the past seven days, the United States has averaged more than 206,000 cases each day.

As of Wednesday, 47 states and Puerto Rico remained above the positive testing rate recommended by the World Health Organization to safely reopen. To safely reopen, the WHO recommends states remain at 5 percent or lower for at least 14 days.

More than 15.1 million people in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Wednesday morning, and more than 286,300 have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Stay up to date on the latest coronavirus news via The New York Times or Washington Post.

Read More From Across America:

• Georgia Coronavirus Record High May Be Start Of 'Thanksgiving Surge'
• Coronavirus May Claim Thousands Of Lives In Los Angeles This Month Alone
• Public Schools In D.C. To Start New COVID-19 Testing Protocol
• Officials In Jersey City Shut Down Restaurant After Republican Event
• County In Maryland Shatters Single-Day Record For COVID-19 Infections
• Colorado Gov. Polis' Husband Hospitalized With Coronavirus
• Los Angeles Schools Shutting Down Campuses During Coronavirus Case Surge
• Rhode Island Has Most Coronavirus Cases Per Capita In U.S.
• Georgia Legislators Urged To Quarantine After Contact With Rudy Giuliani
• 'Get It Over With': Pastor Tells Congregation To Get Coronavirus
• School Principal Dies Of Coronavirus 2 Days After He Was At Work
• Eligible Washington, D.C. Residents To Receive One-Time Stimulus Check
• How Does California's Stay-At-Home Order Affect Grocery Shopping?