Tahoe father implores tourists to stop visiting after son falls critically ill

[Demovictory9]

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Tahoe-father-implores-tourists-to-stop-visiting-15470372.php


A Tahoe-area father is asking tourists to stay away after his son became sick with an unusual condition doctors believe may be associated with COVID-19.

Maeson Howard, 10, is "fighting for his life at UC Davis Children's Hospital," reports the Tahoe Daily Tribune. Doctors think he may have multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), a condition the CDC says has been observed in children infected by COVID-19. Children with MIS-C may experience inflammation of the heart, lungs, brain or gastrointestinal organs, along with fever, vomiting and body pain.

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Maeson's father, Corley, has written to local politicians, including the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors, asking them to restrict tourists into the area. The Howards live in Christmas Valley neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe. Corley Howard said every vacation rental in his neighborhood is filled by out-of-towners.

"I get it, we chose to live in a tourist town but the timing is not right," Howard told the Daily Tribune. "The numbers don’t really show what’s going on. It doesn’t seem like the right time to be putting people on boats and campgrounds."

El Dorado County currently has recorded over 700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Sixty-four of those cases were found in individuals 17 or younger.

Maeson, who first felt sick on July 28 and has been hospitalized since Aug. 1, is showing signs of improvement.

"After suffering from a collapsed lung, Maeson was able to take two deep breaths during his breathing test today and no longer needs the assistance of oxygen. The tenderness and pain in his stomach, back and neck have decreased to almost zero and he is no longer suffering from adrenaline rushes and body trembling," reads a Saturday update on the GoFundMe set up for Maeson's health care costs.

[SheltieLover]

1. Ya, open the schools! 🤬🤬🤬

[smirkymonkey]

2. Poor kid. I hope he continues to make a steady recovery.

It makes me sick when Trump and the republicans say that children cannot be affected by this virus. There are a lot of children out there who are asthmatic, immune compromised or otherwise vulnerable to this virus, and even in healthy children, there is no guarantee that they won't become seriously ill or worse.

I hope that people take his family's plea to heart and stay home!

[Hamlette]

3. scary, I have family headed there now

[Demovictory9]

6. hopefully they will take precautions

[Raine]

4. I used to have family that lived and worked in Tahoe year round

they got sick to death of all the tourists. I can only imagine how they would feel now with this pandemic going on and all those strangers probably bringing it with them.

[GentryDixon]

5. My sister lives there. Scary. 😳