Teresita “Tely” Cruz Dies Days after Exhibiting COVID-19 Symptoms

Teresita “Tely” Cruz

We start our newscast tonight with the death of another San Felipe resident in the Orange Walk District, where the number of COVID cases is increasing. She is fifty-year-old Teresita Cruz, better known as “Tely.”  She is also the sister of the recent COVID-19 victim, Natalio Wicab.  Cruz was being transported to the hospital on Monday evening when she lost consciousness and by the time she arrived, she was dead just after six in the evening. What we know tonight is that Cruz was experiencing breathing problems, fever and other mild COVID-19 symptoms early last week.  By Wednesday, she reported that she was feeling better. Cruz, who was hypertensive, reported that she was feeling extreme exhaustion over the weekend.  This feeling of fatigue, we note, is another symptom of the virus.  According to her family, Cruz spent a lot of time sleeping and by Sunday, she was barely able to walk and later died. She was swabbed for COVID-19 after her death and at this time, her results are pending. Cruz’s husband and daughter also experienced mild symptoms early last week. Her daughter is also an employee of Caribbean Chicken. Today, we spoke with Eldon Cruz, who outlines the time his mom fell ill until she passed away.

On the Phone: Eldon Cruz, Son of Deceased

“On Wednesday, I got a call from my sister. She was telling us that my mom wasn’t feeling well and that she had breathing problems two nights already. I asked my sister what was going on and she told me she didn’t know. I asked if my mom had fever and she told me yes had fever and I asked her if she already lost her smell and she told me yes it happened one day. She told me that my mom had breathing problems two nights. I told my sister to check my mom’s pressure because she didn’t even go out of the home and so we are wondering how my mom caught the virus; not even my father works. He just retired from Caribbean Chicken too. Only my sister goes out of the house and work. So, it is a little hard for us to undersand. I know my father got sick first and then my mother and then my sister. On Wednesday in the morning they checked her pressure and it was very high – too high. So, they gave her some pills to bring down the pressure. I was calling my mom every time – two or three hours asking how the situation was going. My mom then told me Eldon I am feeling good and feeling better. I would talk to her every night and she wasn’t showing if she was scared. She was just happy because she thought she was getting better. So, Thursday, Friday she was telling us that she was feeling better and then on Saturday we lost my uncle Natalio Wicab. On Sunday, my mom tried to come out the hammock and tried to stand up but she couldn’t make it. She was weak and her pulse was high. She started to have breathing problems again. And so on Monday my brother came and picked her up and on the way she got unconscious and as soon as she reached the hospital they were telling us that my mom had already passed away.”