Father’s anguish after 5-year-old Georgian boy died from COVID-19: “I lost my best friend”

5-year-old boy in Georgia has died of COVID-19, raising concerns for parents as Delta variant continues to spread in the United States

Wyatt Gibson died from an extreme case of pneumonia and a stroke on Friday, reports WGCL, a CBS Atlanta affiliate.

“Wyatt was nothing [but] joy and happiness, “the boy’s father, Wes Gibson, wrote on Facebook Sunday.” We loved having fun and going on adventures together. He loved his mom and sister so much, and he was always looking for ways to help. “

Gibson said his son enjoyed building things, playing outdoors, and going to Rock City and the Tennessee Aquarium.

My boyfriend. My best friend. My help. Wyatt was neither joy nor happiness. We loved having fun and continuing …

Posted by Wes Gibson on Sunday, July 18, 2021

“He was full of love and brightened everyone’s world. Wyatt was waving strangers in the grocery store because he knew it absolutely made their day,” Gibson wrote. “I lost my best friend.

Wyatt’s godmother said the entire family, who live in Whitfield County, Georgia, near the Tennessee border, have contracted COVID-19, WGCL reported.

Wyatt died at Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee, according to an online obituary.

The boy’s death raised concerns for parents as the Delta variant continues to spread in the United States. LeWanna Heard-Tucker, mother of a 6-year-old girl, said WGCL Wyatt’s death was “very disheartening, especially for a child who had little or no underlying morbidity.”

Children under 12 are not yet vaccine eligible, and although trials are ongoing, there is no set timeline for when vaccines will be available for children. Tucker said that those who are Vaccine-eligible should receive it, as well as wear masks, to protect children like Wyatt.

“Even if you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your child,” she said.

New COVID-19 infections in the United States are up more than 120% nationwide in the last month and the CDC director says the Delta variant accounts for 83% of infections. “In some parts of the country the percentage is even higher, especially in areas with low vaccination rates,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday at a Senate hearing.

Georgetown University researchers have identified five under-vaccinated regions of the United States which they believe could put the whole nation in danger because COVID-19[female[feminine could mutate so significantly in these areas, it could defeat vaccines.

Parts of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and New Mexico are among these clusters .

Georgia has reported 18,632 deaths from COVID-19, and 11 of those deaths are children, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.