Child found beside body of mother who died of coronavirus hours earlier: report

This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (orange) — also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19. (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH)

A healthcare worker was found dead in her Georgia home with her child beside her after she passed away from coronavirus, the Orlando Sentinel reported. 

According to County Coroner Richard Hawk, the 42-year-old mother was discovered after a welfare check about 12 to 16 hours after she died. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that her child was around 4 or 5-years-old and was found in the house with her body at the time.

Posthumous tests reportedly confirmed that she had COVID-19. 

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The woman was one of two health care workers in Georgia who died last week from coronavirus. A 48-year-old woman who worked at a hospital had also died. 

As of Thursday night, the United States officially surpassed China and Italy in its number of COVID-19 cases, becoming the country with the most reported novel coronavirus cases in the world. 

According to a running tally kept by Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. had 82,404 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday evening. China had 81,782 and Italy had 80,589.