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9-Year-Old Girl Dies 3 Days After Contracting COVID-19

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A 9-year-old girl died in her sleep three days after contracting COVID-19, according to her family.

Makenzie Gongora, of San Antonio, first began feeling sick on Jan. 29, according to KSAT News. By Feb. 2, Makenzie was dead, the outlet reported.

“Kenzie was complaining about a really bad headache and then they took her temperature and she had a fever,” Southworth told the outlet. (RELATED: 13-Year-Old Dies From COVID-19 Complications In Missouri)

“Doctors told them kind of the standard thing that they told parents with kids with COVID, especially with no respiratory issues, to keep an eye on her, keep her comfortable,” Southworth added.

Southworth claimed Makenzie seemed to be recovering from the virus, the outlet reported. The family said she only had mild symptoms and no pre-existing conditions, according to the outlet.

“She seemed to be recuperating,” Southworth told the outlet. “There would be times when she didn’t feel very well. She started vomiting at one point.”

Makenzie reportedly passed away in her sleep.

“We want to get answers as to why she was taken so quickly from us,” Southworth told KSAT News.

The family hopes to raise awareness of the way COVID-19 can impact children by telling Makenzie’s story.

“We want to raise awareness because whatever it is that caused this, there just needs to be a general change in the way that people approach children and COVID,” Southworth reportedly said.

On Feb. 4, roughly 2.93 million children had tested positive for coronavirus in America, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Meanwhile, 26.8 million people total have tested positive for the virus, according to a data count by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The American Academy of Pediatrics claimed that the available data shows that hospitalizations and deaths for children due to COVID-19 is uncommon.

“At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children,” the academy wrote on its website. “However, there is an urgent need to collect more data on longer-term impacts of the pandemic on children, including ways the virus may harm the long-term physical health of infected children, as well as its emotional and mental health effects.”