A 34-year-old man has died in California after testing positive of coronavirus just days ago, and two weeks after visiting Walt Disney World and Universal Studios in Florida.
Jeffrey Ghazarian died this morning at a Pasadena hospital after spending 5 days hooked up to a ventilator and battling for his life according to his family.
His sister told TMZ: “He suffered a lot and put up a good fight. We will miss our Jeff everyday but we are thankful for all the fun happy memories of the times we had together.”
Jeffrey Ghazarian
He was in Florida from March 2-9, visiting Disney World and Universal Studios before he felt ill and flew back to Los Angeles.
According to his family he was taken by ambulance to the hospital and quickly transferred to the ICU when it was discovered his lungs were 60-70 percent blocked with pneumonia.
Doctors decided the best path forward was to sedate and undergo Intubation, hoping a ventilator would help his lungs heal.
But it did not and he passed away this morning.
Universal Studios today responded: “Our thoughts are with this gentleman and his family. As is always the case, we will take our guidance from local health officials.”
Disney World faced intense backlash online over its decision to keep the theme park open until late Sunday – as photos from a Disney World fansite went viral, showing large crowds gathering in Orlando at a time when the government is rapidly closing public venues in order to slow the progression of a deadly virus that has already killed over 10,000 people worldwide.
Other theme parks in California, such as Knott’s Berry Farm and Six Flags, are closed.
Disney this week also announced it would close all its North American retail stores, effective Tuesday.
Disney closed Downtown Disney in Anaheim and Disney Springs in Orlando.
Disney hotels in Walt Disney World and its Vero Beach Resort will also close by Friday.
The Walt Disney Co. has not responded to Ghazarian’s death.