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BACLIFF
Kali Cook was 4 years old. She hated bows and loved to play with worms.
She lived in Bacliff with her mother, father and older siblings. She attended pre-kindergarten classes in the Dickinson Independent School District.
On Tuesday, she died of COVID-19, according to the Galveston County Health District.
The death came quickly and underscores warnings from local doctors that while children tend to do well with COVID, when they do get sick they can get very sick and the disease can progress quickly.
Kali is the youngest county resident to die from the virus, which has killed another 465 here since it emerged in March 2020.
No other county resident under the age of 20 has succumbed to the virus.
“She was so funny and sassy,” said Karra Harwood, Kali’s mother. “She wasn’t your average little girl. She would rather play with worms and frogs than wear bows. She was so pretty and full of life.
Through sobs on Thursday, Harwood said she didn’t want people to view her daughter as an anonymous statistic. She wanted people to know who her daughter was.
“I would rather her be a name than just a little girl,” she said. “She was beautiful.”
Galveston County Local Health Authority Philip Keizer called the death a tragedy.
“It’s a terrible thing, but I think people need to know it,” Keizer said.
Health district officials did not disclose personal information of Kali and Harwood. The Daily News was able to independently confirm their identities.
Kali has never tested positive for the virus, and she was not confirmed to be a carrier until she was examined by the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“I ended up contracting COVID and was diagnosed on Monday,” Harwood said. “I came home and was isolated. I tried to stay away from her and didn’t want her and my other children to catch her.
Harwood said her daughter had no diagnosed immune disorders or other health issues. She tended to get sicker than her siblings, Harwood said.
At around 2 a.m. on Tuesday, Harwood’s mother noticed that Kali had a fever, she said. They gave him medicine to fight it.
By 7 a.m. Kali was gone.
“She died in her sleep,” Harwood said.
Harwood and most of the rest of his family have been quarantined due to their own COVID infections. She said she and her fiance were out of work because of the pandemic.
Harwood said she was not vaccinated.
“I was one of the people who was anti, I was against,” she said. “Now, I wish I never was. “
The Dickinson Independent School District confirmed Thursday evening that Kali is a student at KE Little Elementary in Bacliff. She was last in class on September 1, the district said.
Health officials said they did not believe the girl was infected at her school. Contact tracing carried out by the health district showed that no students or adults who had close contact with her had tested positive for the virus, Keizer said.
Like all children under 12, Kali was not yet eligible for vaccination. Amid the two-month spike in coronavirus cases in Galveston County and across the country, health officials have pleaded with people to get vaccinated to help protect others from the spread of the virus.
About 60% of eligible Galveston County residents and about half of the county’s total population have received full vaccines.
Due to the delta variant, the number of children confirmed with the virus has reached a record high in Galveston County. Nearly 30 percent of all cases in children under 12 occurred in August, according to the health district.
Children usually do not suffer from severe symptoms of the virus; but health officials have stressed that children who show symptoms should receive medical attention as soon as possible.
“It’s very important, if your kids are sick, not to say ‘Oh, they’re going to be fine,’” Keizer said. “If your children are sick, seek medical attention.”
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