9-year-old girl becomes youngest casualty of coronavirus in Florida

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A 9-year-old girl who was described by her loved ones as a “jovial, [fun-loving] and free-spirited” child became the youngest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida in the US.

Kimora “Kimmie” Lynum passed away on July 17 due to COVID-19 complications, as per ABC-affiliate WCJB last Friday, July 24. The child was the fifth minor to die from COVID-19 in the state.

Lynum was taken to the University of Florida Health in Gainesville on July 11 after experiencing stomach pain and fever, as per the GoFundMePage set up by her mother, Mikasha Young-Holmes, last Sunday, July 26.

An array of tests was apparently done on the child, but none of them were to check if she was positive for the coronavirus. She was then given paracetamol for her fever and a couple of shots to address the infections in her body.

Lynum spent her last day playing with her friends and family, according to the page. The child, later in the evening, told her mother that she was feeling tired and wanted to rest. When her mother checked on her a few moments later, the child was unresponsive.

The posthumous coronavirus testing conducted on Lynum confirmed that she was positive for the coronavirus. The fundraiser aims to help the family with the medical bill and the funeral expenses of the child.

“We would like to keep her memory alive and her love for others by creating a Scholarship Fund in her honor,” the page said.

“‘Kimmie’ was a jovial, [fun-loving] and free-spirited 9-year-old child,” the page said about the child. “She enjoyed the very simple things in life such as going to the park and making new friends.  She was highly sociable, inquisitive and always happy.”

Lynum’s mother added in a follow-up report with the local TV network yesterday, July 27, that they have tried to trace everyone who she and her daughter had come in contact with, but could not find anyone who tested positive for the virus.

While others might remember Lynum as the youngest person to die from COVID-19 in Florida, the family said they will remember the child as the loving young girl whose future was cut short by the unfortunate disease. Cha Lino /ra

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