Three sons and their elderly mother from Louisiana have all died from coronavirus within days of one another.
Antoinette Franklin, 86, from New Orleans along with her sons Herman Franklin Jr., 71, Anthony Franklin Sr., 58 and Timothy Franklin, 61, all died from the disease between March 20 and 30.
'My uncle passed, my grandmother passed, my dad passed, then my other uncle passed,' Anthony Franklin Jr. said to NBC News.
'It was literally like seven to eight days apart. It's horrific.'
Herman Franklin died on March 20. Anthony Franklin Sr., passed away on March 26 and is survived by his two children, their mother and a fiancée. Timothy Franklin died on March 30.
The three brothers and their mother all tested positive for coronavirus, according to the New Orleans Coroner's Office.
It is not clear if they were tested for COVID-19 before or after they died and their underlying causes of death have not been revealed, however, all four of them became ill at the same time.
Timothy William Franklin was 61, left, while his brother Herman Franklin was 71, right
Anthony Franklin St. was 58 and passed away on March 26
'I want the world to know if it happened to the Franklin family it could happen to any family,' Jacqueline Franklin, wife of Anthony Franklin Sr., told WDSU.
'Let's take this serious. My children have to bury their father, their precious grandmother and their uncles.'
New Orleans has emerged as one of the early U.S. hot spots for the coronavirus.
The death rate in New Orleans is almost twice that of New York, with doctors and public health officials blaming the Big Easy's high levels of obesity and related ailments.
'We're just sicker,' said Rebekah Gee, to the Wall Street Journal, who until January was the health secretary for Louisiana and now heads Louisiana State University's healthcare services division.
New Orleans residents suffer from obesity, diabetes and hypertension at rates higher than the national average, conditions that doctors and public health officials say can make patients more vulnerable to COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory disease.
New Orleans (above during the lockdown) remains a national virus hotspot. The death toll in the city is now at 409. The city's Mardi Gras celebrations had been blamed for causing the virus to spread so rapidly across the state but underlying health conditions are also to blame
Orleans Parish, which encompasses New Orleans, has a rate of 37.93 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people. Pictured: Elena Likaj, prevention department manager at Odyssey House Louisiana began testing bikers for coronavirus at a drive-thru testing station in the city
Some 97% of those killed by COVID-19 in Louisiana had a pre-existing condition, according to the state health department.
Diabetes was seen in 40% of the deaths, obesity in 25%, chronic kidney disease in 23% and cardiac problems in 21% according to publicly released data last week.
The CDC also reported 39% of residents have high blood pressure, 36% suffer from obesity and 15% have diabetes.
In New Orleans, hospitals have been reporting cases across the generations, such as in the Franklin's case.
Family members often suffered from the same medical conditions before becoming sick, leaving them similarly vulnerable to the coronavirus despite their age gaps.
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