Gabino Sanchezâs family is one of many facing their first Christmas season without a loved one lost to COVID-19.
Gabino Sanchez, a maintenance worker at the Waco Family Health Center, died from COVID-19 on Dec. 9, three weeks after contracting the virus. His wife, Maria, and daughters, Diana Salinas and Ernestina Sanchez, said Gabino could make them laugh about just about anything. Diana, 38, said despite the jokes he would make, her father took the virus as seriously as anyone. He was just unlucky.
â(He was) committed to anyone and anybody. If anyone needed help, he didnât ask questions. He would help,â Diana said. âThatâs the person both of them are, my mom and my dad.â
Wacoâs hospitals are managing a rising number of COVID-19 patients and plan to administer their first doses of COVID-19 vaccine Friday and Saturday to employees, officials said Wednesday during a weekly city press conference.
Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest Medical Center plans to give its first shots Friday, Dr. Marc Elieson said. Ascension Providence Medical Center plans to follow suit Saturday, said Dr. Richard Haskett, chief medical officer of Ascension Medical Group Providence in Waco. Elieson and Haskett each said their systemâs Waco hospital is seeing the effects of uncontrolled spread of the coronavirus.
The hospitals were treating 119 COVID-19 patients Wednesday, a new high, according to the Waco-McLennan County Public Health District. Several days now with more than 100 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Waco is a worrying sign, Waco Family Health Center CEO Dr. Jackson Griggs said.