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Supercentenarians who have survived the Coronavirus threat are all women.

By on December 25, 2020

One of the facts scientists have been saying is that Covid-19 hits older people the hardest.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA said the risk of dying due to covid-19 is 630 times greater in people 85 years old and above than young adults ages 18 to 29. From what we see in the news everyday since the onset of the pandemic, some of the oldest of the old are somehow surviving covid-19. Here are some of them.

 

Tova Cayssials (FRANCE)

Dubbed the “miracle lady” by her daughter Nicole, 107-year old Tova defeated the virus on the first wave of the  epidemic in March 2020. Dean of the Sud-Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, the French centenarian who lost her husband twenty years ago, has two children, three grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and three great great-grandchildren. At 99, she survived an operation for a broken femoral neck.

Her daughter speaking with Le Parisien, said, “She has not been walking for three years, but she has all her head. Last year, she was still reading without glasses.”

“When we were told that she had the Covid, I said to myself, it is not possible for her to die from it, she has survived the war. I am not a believer but I prayed for her anyway,” says Nicole. Tova had a high fever, hardly ate, slept a lot. By the end of five days in isolation, the doctor said her condition was getting better. She fully recovered in 15 days.”

“During her illness, I didn’t want to take calls on the phone. I was too scared that I would be informed of her death,” recalls her niece Sylvia.  “During the first wave, I thought my mother was safe in her nursing home, but there were about ten cases, including her. When the doctor called to tell me she got the virus, I collapsed. Especially since it did not leave me much hope. My mother may be 107 years old, but I’m not ready to see her go,” insists Nicole.

 

Léa Lavy (FRANCE)

Twitter photo by Zellag Zamine

French centenarian and head of a nursing home in Haute Savoie, the alpine region in Southeast France,  Léa Lavy turned 105 on December 10 this year. She caught the virus just before her birthday. The nursing home in which she has been living for a few months was hardly hit by the second wave of Covid-19 in France. Sixty percent or 109 out of 185 residents had tested positive while 33 have died. “The place was understaffed for 15 days in October causing 30% of the staff to be infected,” according to the director of the Ehpad Fondation du Parmelan managing the nursing home.

After a series of treatment, Lavy won the fight.  The nursing home director said, “If we ask her if she was sick she says, ‘no’! Her body responded well. Her body reacted well. She is a fit lady and a woman of character, very charming. But we do not tell her that!”

In an interview with Sud Ouest the centenarian survivor admits she

Maria Branyas (SPAIN)

photo by La Vanguardia

Maria Branyas, 113 years old from Olot, Genora, Spain, was diagnosed with Covid-19 after the country’s lockdown in March 2020.

Born in Mexico in 1907, Branyas’ father who was a journalist, moved to the Catalan province of Girona during World War 1 with the family in tow. Having raised three children, she now has 11 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren in total.

She is one of the oldest people at a nursing home in Olot city, where has been living in the last twenty years. Asked what the secret to her survival was, she said: “I have only been trying to survive.”

https://t.co/6bDcty9sYJ #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/pubB2FTmu3

 

Variyath Pathu and Hamidhabi (INDIA)

Photo by Indian Express

Pathu, a 110-year-old woman in India became the oldest person to recover from COVID-19. Pathu who lives in Randathani, Malappuram district tested positive on August 18 after catching the virus from her daughter. The doctors who looked after her said she has responded well to the treatment. After discharge from the hospital, she was ordered to stay in quarantine for the next 14 days.

Another woman from India’s Tirupathur district, Hamidhabi survived the coronavirus threat after having had non-stop fever and colds for two long weeks. Health authorities said she could be 110 years old but her family claims her to be 130.

The elderly woman raised 13 children of whom 12 had died at a very young age. Her only surviving daughter is Mubarak who is 58 years old.

Sylvia Goldscholl (USA)

New Jersey woman Sylvia Goldscholl is 108 years old when she contracted the virus at a nursing home. Speaking with New York Times in May this year,  her niece Nancy Chazen feared she was not going to make it given her age. Two weeks later, she became the beacon of hope for the elderly when she was declared to have fully recovered.

In May, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in New Jersey were hotspots where almost  half of covid patients came from.

Fatima Negrini (ITALY)

108-year-old Italian woman Fatima Negrini survived the Spanish flu, two world wars and COVID-19 that took the lives of many of her friends. In the face of the most challenging threat she has experienced in her lifetime, the Italian centenarian has not lost her determination. Her urgent message on twitter: wear a mask. 

https://m.facebook.com/dw.deutschewelle/videos/the-108-year-old-woman-fighting-covid-19/385967615907917/

 

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