A five-year-old Georgia boy with no underlying health conditions has died from complications of COVID-19, his family has said.
Wyatt Gary Gibson of Calhoun, whose entire family contracted the coronavirus, succumbed on Friday to what loved ones called an extreme case of pneumonia and a stroke.
Wyatt died while being treated at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He is survived by his parents, Whitfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Wes Gibson and his wife, Alexis Gibson, and a nine-month-old sister, Alyssa.
All three tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It is unclear if the parents had been vaccinated.
Calhoun is the seat of Gordon County, where fewer than 40 percent of the area's 58,000 residents had at least one vaccine injection, according to the latest public health data.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 6,611 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county. Georgia state officials said that the two-week average in the county rose from 16 two weeks to 38 a week ago to 88 as of Monday.
Statewide, Georgia has seen a 30 percent increase in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the past seven days, with public health experts saying the contagious Indian Delta Variant now accounts for around 70 percent of those.
More than 480 Georgians were hospitalized with COVID in July. Of those, 416 were not fully vaccinated. Statewide, just 44 percent of Georgians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Since the start of the pandemic, more than 18,600 Georgians have died and nearly 914,000 have been infected.
Wyatt suffered complications from COVID-19, including pneumonia and a stroke
He is survived by his parents, Wes and Alexis Gibson, and a nine-month-old sister, Alyssa. All three have tested positive for COVID-19
Wyatt’s father published a heartfelt post on Facebook paying tribute to his son. 'My little buddy. My best friend. My helper,' the bereaved father wrote.
'Wyatt was nothing [but] joy and happiness. We loved having fun and going on adventures together.
'He loved his momma and his sister so very much, and he was always looking for ways to help.'
Gibson added: 'He loved to build things. Big things! And then he loved showing them to Alexis and me.
'Wyatt loved Rock City and The Tennessee Aquarium. He loved to play outside, help in the yard, and help with the horses.
'He loved the horses and the dogs. He was full of love, and brightened everyone's world.
'Wyatt would wave to strangers in the grocery store, because he knew that it absolutely made their day.
'In a way I know that you're still here, but I miss you so damn much! I wish this was one adventure that you did not start... 'I have lost my best friend.'
On Saturday, Wyatt’s mother also wrote a post in honor of her late son.
'There are no words....he was my "all days every days",' she wrote. 'Wyatt was nothing but pure love and the perfect overload of happiness. We see you everywhere we look Bitty Wy and I still feel you holding my hand.
'I know you're here with us, and thank you for guiding us home yesterday with those 5 beautiful rainbows, each one bigger than the last.
'God's got you building all kinds of things already.'
Amanda Summey, the boy’s godmother, launched a GoFundMe to help the family cover medical expenses.
As of Wednesday, the crowdfunding campaign has raised more than $30,000.
The number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Georgia has risen substantially over the past few weeks, mirroring a national trend that has public health experts worried.
The state’s seven-day average of new cases stood at more than 803 on Tuesday, up from 365 on June 25.
About 945 people were hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19 while about 260 others had suspected cases.
A month ago, there were 423 people hospitalized with COVID, according to state data.
Both numbers are nowhere near January peaks, when the seven-day average topped 9,000.
But health experts said they show the need for more people to get vaccinated, particularly with the rise of the fast-spreading Delta variant of the virus.
Just 40 percent of Georgia residents are fully vaccinated, well below the rate in many other states.
The combination of a fairly low vaccination rate, the highly transmissible Delta variant and a general relaxation in mask requirements and other precautions is a 'recipe for a potential tinderbox,' said Sarah McCool, a professor in public health at Georgia State University.
McCool said she wants to see whether the state's COVID-19 numbers continue to increase at the same pace over the next week or two, but the rise she’s seen so far is 'certainly concerning.'
The state’s seven-day average of new cases (left) stood at more than 803 on Tuesday, up from 365 on June 25
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the Delta variant has made up 83 percent of cases
Every single state - aside from Iowa - and the District of Columbia are reporting increases of COVID-19 cases this week
Like many other parts of the country, Georgia has seen an uptick in coronavirus cases in recent weeks
It is extremely rare for a child that young to die of COVID-19.
According to state public health data, of the 18,600 Georgians who have died of the disease, 11 were children. Nationwide, 600,000 have died of COVID-19. Of those, 335 were under the age of 18.
There currently are no authorized vaccines for children under the age of 12.
Summey said that when Wyatt got sick, the family initially thought it was just food poisoning.
'A day, two. No appetite, a little vomiting, a bit lethargic,' the boy's maternal grandmother, Andrea Mitchell, wrote in a statement to the Journal-Constitution.
'He'd barely had more than the sniffle or two as prior illnesses go. Then the white tongue.
'Alarmed, he was hustled off to the local hospital. Then the next day to TC Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, TN.'
Doctors diagnosed Wyatt with strep and staph infections as well as COVID-19.
'We'd been so careful this whole time for it to find us now?' Mitchell said.
'He was fighting for his very life. His mother, up for four days, never leaving between cajoling him to keep moving and fighting and begging him to stay.'
Mitchell added: 'His father, the backbone of the family, coughing from COVID now himself, stood beside in silent worry, beyond believing what he was seeing. Then it ended.
'On July 16, 2021 at 12:05 p.m., Wyatt died. A massive stroke struck the soul of his brain.'
Wyatt died while being treated at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee
On Saturday, Wyatt’s mother, Alexis, also wrote a post in honor of her late son. 'There are no words....he was my "all days every days",' she wrote
'He loved the horses and the dogs. He was full of love, and brightened everyone's world,' Wes Gibson wrote. He is pictured, right, with his son
The chart above depicts the number of cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 versus the number of cumulative deaths
Less than half of Georgia residents have received at least one dose of the two-dose vaccine, according to public health data
Around 40 percent of Georgia residents have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data
Georgia, a state whose population stands at around 10.8 million, is currently vaccinating residents at a rate of just a few thousand per month
Other places in the country facing similar increases in COVID-19 cases have urged even vaccinated people to resume wearing masks in public.
Mississippi officials have recommended that people 65 and older and those with chronic underlying conditions stay away from large indoor gatherings because of a 150 percent rise in hospitalizations over the past three weeks.
The surging Indian Delta variant has reignited fears that the country could once again be forced into lockdown, reversing a trend of falling infections and hospitalizations made possible by the mass vaccination campaign.
More than half of Californians are being urged to wear masks indoors - regardless of vaccination status - as the variant continues to wreak havoc across the U.S.
At least 17 counties in The Golden State - home to 56 percent of residents - are asking people to wear face coverings in places such as grocery stores and movie theaters, reported The Los Angeles Times.
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