Children orphaned after unvaccinated parents die on same day

Four children have been orphaned after their parents died on the same day from Covid-19 complications.

Californian couple Alvaro, 44, and Sylvia Fernandez, 42, passed away within hours of each other on December 19, according to US news station KNBC.

The couple, who were married for 25 years, leave behind four children.

"Their love story began as High School sweethearts at the tender age of fifteen," a GoFundMe page set up for the couple's memorial and family read.

"Their love grew over the years as their family grew, adding amazing children to their lives (Emily, Daniel, Destinee, and Nicholas)," organisers wrote.

"This great love story sadly ended hours apart from each other."

Organisers noted their youngest children, Destinee and Nicholas, are only 17 years old.

"This will be a loss felt for a very long time," they said.

"To be left without their parents, and to have to carry the weight of being pushed into adulthood while they're still children themselves."

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Couple's Covid deaths spur family to get vaccinated

According to relatives of the couple, both were unvaccinated and had tested positive for Covid-19 days before they died. Alvaro had underlying health conditions that included diabetes.

Alvaro's sister Alma Hernandez told KNBC he had wanted to do more research into the vaccine, adding their deaths had spurred the rest of the family to get vaccinated.

"This is kind of an eye-opener for everybody in my family that whoever is not vaccinated definitely should have their vaccinations," she said.

US health officials have been warning the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible, would cause a spike in cases in the lead up to Christmas, predicting it to peak in January.

Some cities and states have reintroduced mask mandates and vaccine passports in an attempt to stop the spread, although health officials say the best protection is being vaccinated.

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