9-year-old Girl Is Youngest In Florida To Die From COVID-19
A 9-year-old Florida girl died this month after testing positive for coronavirus.
Officials report that Kimora “Kimmie” Lynum is the youngest person in Florida to succumb to the illness during the growing pandemic. According to her obituray, Kimmie will be remebered "for a smile that brightened anyone’s day, a contagious goofy laugh, and having the sweetest spirit. She loved Unicorns, going to the pool, making TikToks, and most days you could find her on her phone making her own dramatic YouTube videos, or playing Roblox with her close family members and friends".
According to Florida Department of Health records, Kimmie died on July 18 in Putnam County located near Gainesville and St. Augustine. She did not have any underlying health conditions.
CNN reports that her mother took her to the hospital after the girl was experiencing a high fever. She was then sent home and collapsed shortly after.
“She was a happy child, but she didn’t even get to live her life,” Dejeon Cain, cousin of Kimora Lynum told the network. “She was doing good at one point, and all of a sudden she had a situation with a fever.”
It is unclear how or where Kimmie was infected. Cain reports that her cousin appeared to be healthy, spent her summer at home, and was not attending school or a summer camp.
Official state health department records confirm that Kimmie was not in close contact with anyone who had recently been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Health records also report that Kimmie is the fifth minor in the state of Florida to die from the illness. A 17-year-old boy in Pasco County, 16-year-old girl in Lee County, 11-year-old girl in Broward County and an 11-year-old boy in Miami-Dade County have all died.
Data from John Hopkins University report as of Sunday afternoon (July 26) that Florida has recorded more coronavirus cases than New York with 423,855 people testing positive. This ranks them as the second highest state with COVID cases.
California leads with 450,242 cases.
As of last Friday, 23,170 minors have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, according to CNN. The rate of positive cases among children is 14.4%.
A GoFundMe has been created to pay for the funeral arrangements for Kimmie.
For the latest on the coronavirus, check out BET’s blog on the virus, and contact your local health department or visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
