'She Is A Miracle': Woman With Down Syndrome Home After 73 Days

ROCKFORD, IL — Kaitlyn Samaniego is back home in Rockford, Illinois, after 73 days of coronavirus-related medical care. Some are calling her a "miracle" for all she has overcome since falling ill on Dec. 7.

Rita Dray, Samaniego's mother, remembers her daughter falling unresponsive in her living room that day. It was a moment she will never forget, according to a WIFR report.

“I asked the fire department can I kiss her goodbye because I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” Dray told the Rockford-based news station.

Samaniego, who has Down syndrome, spent the next month and a half at the OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford and Kindred Hospital in nearby Sycamore. She was in a medically induced coma for two weeks, endured five surgeries and was on a ventilator.

“I couldn’t see her for 23 days,” Dray told WIFR. “The first three days were the most crucial. Every hour that passed, when I did not get a phone call, I knew that was a good sign.”

Ashley Robyn, Samaniego's sister, feared she would never see her again.

“Thinking I’m never going to see her again like COVID is going to take her,” she told WIFR.

At Kindred, Samaniego had to learn how to stand, walk and talk again, the news station reported.

Now, she feels safe at home.

“Those at the hospital that you know they just fell in love with her, and they still just could not believe and could not get over, and they would all say she is a miracle,” Dray said.

Read more from WIFR

The Latest

As the nation on Monday surpassed the grim milestone of 500,000 coronavirus-related deaths, it can be a challenge to put into context the loss of life the pandemic has caused in the year since the first American virus death.

The death toll is already greater than the population of several major American metropolises, including Miami and Kansas City, a report from The Associated Press shows. The deaths are roughly equal to the number of Americans killed in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War combined, and akin to a 9/11 every day for nearly six months.

“It’s very hard for me to imagine an American who doesn’t know someone who has died or have a family member who has died,” Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics at the University of Washington in Seattle, told the AP. “We haven’t really fully understood how bad it is, how devastating it is, for all of us.”

This comes as the country is on track to make up for the millions of vaccination appointments that were postponed due to last week's winter storm that crippled Texas and much of the Southern part of the country, officials have said.

At least 6 million of those have been delayed due to winter weather, the White House said Friday, creating a backlog that's affecting every state and throwing off the pace of vaccination appointments over the next week.

Of the 6 million doses, 1.4 million were already in transit by the end of last week, the New York Times and others reported.

See Also: A Patch Exclusive — President Joe Biden On How We'll End The Coronavirus Pandemic

The delay will amount to a "temporary setback," Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." The vaccine plan should be back on track by the middle of this upcoming week, he added.

"The number was 6 million doses got delayed. We've gotten 2 million out, and we project that by the middle of the week, we will have caught up," Fauci said.

Still, Fauci said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that it is "possible" masks could be needed to be worn by Americans well into 2022.

"It depends on the level of dynamics of virus that's in the community," Fauci said. "And that's really important. ... If you see the level coming down really really very low, I want it to keep going down to a baseline that's so low that there's virtually no threat — or not no, it'll never be zero — but a minimal, minimal threat that you will be exposed to someone who's infected. So if you combine getting most of the people in the country getting vaccinated with getting the level of virus in the community very very low, then I believe you're going to be able to say, you know, for the most part we don't necessarily have to wear masks. But if we have a level of virus that is at that level that it was months and months ago, like 20,000 per day, it is a heck of a lot better than what it's been, but that's still very high level of virus in the community."

The virus surpassed its 500,000th casualty in the United States on Monday, and the grim milestone could be reached as early as Monday, totals from Johns Hopkins University suggest.

President Joe Biden will remember the 500,000 lives lost with a moment of silence and candle lighting ceremony Monday at the White House, according to The Associated Press. This comes just over a year after the nation marked its first virus-related death.

Meanwhile, seven U.S. airlines have agreed to start collecting information from international passengers in order to help health officials more quickly warn travelers if they have been exposed to coronavirus.

The announcement marks a big change for the airline industry, which in the past has pushed back against requests to aid in contact tracing.

Under the plan, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines said they will start collecting information from travelers on U.S.-bound flights, according to a Washington Post report.

Passengers can voluntarily provide information including their legal name, two phone numbers, an email address, and the address of the place where they will be staying in the United States or of their permanent U.S. residence.

Newest Numbers

As of Monday afternoon, the United States had reported more than 28.1 million cases and more than 500,071 deaths from COVID-19-related illnesses, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 1,325 deaths and 58,890 new cases of coronavirus had been reported in the United States on Sunday, according to a Washington Post database. The Post's reporting shows that over the past week, new daily cases have fallen 28.7 percent, new daily deaths have fallen 29.5 percent and COVID-19-related hospitalizations have fallen 15.5 percent.

More than 75.2 million vaccine doses have been distributed and nearly 63 million administered in the United States as of Monday, according to the CDC. More than 43.6 million people have received one dose, and nearly 18.8 million have received two.

Currently, 56,159 people are hospitalized with a coronavirus-related illness in the United States, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

As of Monday, 25 states and U.S. territories 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.

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

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