SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - A pregnant San Diego mother is in the hospital after contracting Coronavirus.
Ashley Duque is 17 weeks pregnant and is the ICU, in a medically induced coma and on a ventilator, according to her sister, Jessica Cunningham.
Cunningham says Duque's symptoms started about two weeks ago. She was vomiting and had diarrhea. At first, she thought it was symptoms related to her pregnancy, but then she started losing weight rapidly.
She went to the hospital on Mar. 23rd, where she was tested for the flu and Coronavirus. She tested positive for COVID-19.
Cunningham says her sister was sent home to self-isolate, but after three days, her symptoms became severe, and she needed hospital care. She checked in and has been there since.
"When she made a movement, she could not breathe. She said she was in so much pain; it felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest," Cunningham said.
Cunningham says Tuesday was another turning point in her sister's fight against the virus.
"Right now, she's is in a medically induced coma in the ICU, and she's on a ventilator," she said. "The baby is healthy and good, and she's fighting for her life to protect the baby."
Duque's husband and two-year-old daughter are self-isolating. The hardest part is the family is not able to visit her at the hospital.
"That's the hardest part is that I'm heartbroken that she's in the hospital all by herself," she said.
It led to Cunningham posting a video on social urging everyone to take the virus seriously.
"We have to do our part, we have to stay home, we have to socially distance," she said in the video.
"My point was to make it real," she told 10News. "Besides the thinking and praying for my sister and family, it's really about thinking about one other person you can affect. If we don't have the medicine right now, the best thing we can do is stay home."
