Still surreal - Pain lingers months after virus claims loved one

Behind each COVID-19 death reported by the Ministry of Health and Wellness is a grieving family who has been robbed of a loved-one and a community that has been made poorer for the loss. Jamaica on Tuesday crossed the 500 death mark after recording 13 deaths, bringing the tally to 507 since the virus hit local shores last March.

This means more than 500 families have been rocked by death and among them are the loved ones of 68-year-old Flavious Miller who passed away last September. Miller, who hailed from Rock River in Clarendon, has been described by his younger sister, Marsha Miller, as fun-loving and jovial.

"The death of my brother is still surreal for our family," Miller said while pointing to the stigma and sensitivity that is attached to having the virus.

Miller said she and other family members were not allowed to visit her brother in hospital and that in itself was somewhat heart-wrenching.

"It took an entire week for test results to come back, he was hospitalised for eight days before they confirmed it was COVID. Unfortunately, within two days of a COVID positive result, we lost him," Miller said. Under health ministry protocols, persons who are placed in isolation in state facilities such as hospitals are prohibited from getting visitors.

Flavious' death came as a shock to the family as they were reportedly told by doctors at the May Pen Hospital, where he was admitted, that his vitals were okay, but they needed the test results before he could be released.

"He kept telling us he wanted to come out. The day before he died they had him on an oxygen tank as they said his oxygen level was low, however, he had mentioned that he wasn't getting anything from the tank," Miller said.

She told THE STAR that family members are still puzzled as to how Flavious contracted COVID-19. She stated that he was a homebody and never one to entertain visitors.

Miller said that COVID-19 restrictions have made it difficult for family members to cope when they lose a loved one to the dreaded disease. The Government imposes gathering limits, places restrictions on the number of persons who can attend funerals, and dictates how bodies of persons who die from COVID-19 are to be handled before being disposed of.

"And it gets worse as some funeral homes will not even allow for persons to see their loved one ever again - closed casket funeral. While understandable for health and safety reasons, it's a hard end to face. Death has always been cruel, but death during COVID-19 is beyond excruciating," Miller said.