This archive report was first published on 14 July 2020.
On July 14, 2020, a man in San Antonio, Texas, tragically lost his life to COVID-19 after attending a party where the virus was intentionally spread to test its reality.
According to Jane Appleby, Chief Medical Officer for Methodist Hospital and Methodist Children's Hospital, the unidentified patient had shared information with them indicating he had attended the party, which was held by a patient with COVID-19.
"This is a party held by somebody diagnosed with the COVID virus and the thought is to see if the virus is real and to see if anyone gets infected," Appleby said in a report by ABC News.
Just before the patient died, he expressed his regrets, saying he had made a mistake for thinking COVID-19 was a hoax.
"Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said 'I think I made a mistake, I thought this was a hoax, but it's not,'" Appleby said.
The patient, who lived in Bexar County, had become critically ill before his death.
Appleby shared the information to make people aware that the disease was serious and they needed to be extra careful to avoid contracting the disease.
"I don't want to be an alarmist, and we're just trying to share some real-world examples to help our community realise that this virus is very serious and can spread easily," she said.
Appleby's hospital has been seeing more cases in people in their 20s and 30s.
The COVID-19 parties have become a common trend in the US, especially among college students who hold parties with people who have tested positive for COVID-19 just to test if they too can contract the killer virus.
