Detroit, MI — Albert Barber, a 39-year old man who just got married last year, has sadly died from COVID-19. His wife, Latresa, believes that he contracted the virus when he went to the barbershop to get a haircut a few days before the stay-at-home mandate was implemented.The couple, who met through Facebook, got married in October last year. Barber moved to Detroit from South Carolina to spend their life together. However, just after five months, they were separated by death when Barber died from COVID-19.
“Two weeks before all of this happened, I was on a business trip to California. I came back with no symptoms and he was fine. It wasn’t until that Saturday when he went to the barbershop and he came back and then that Sunday he said he had a cough. And it just progressed from there,” Latresa said in an interview on The Tamron Hall Show.
Eventually, his symptoms worsened, he started throwing up and struggling to breathe. Latresa said she also began to develop a fever.
She said they called the hospital but “we were told that our symptoms were not severe enough to receive the test and no one was going to test us,” Latresa recalled. She added that hospital staff even recommended they just take lemon water and Tylenol as a remedy.
The couple self-quarantined instead. But when his symptoms continued to worsen, he was hospitalized. He died on April 2nd, the same day his COVID-19 test results revealed that he was positive.
What’s more heartbreaking for Latresa is that she was not able to say a proper goodbye to her husband. She had to deal with the limitations of in-person visitation for his funeral, and she was not even allowed to travel to South Carolina where her husband’s remains were transported to be with his family.
Still, Latresa urges others to follow the safety guidelines, including the social distancing and stay-at-home mandates, in order to save lives during the pandemic.
“Don’t take life for granted. Things are in place to save your life, not to take life from you. If you would just wait and take the time and do what they’re telling you to do now… You can wait until later. Lives are at stake,” she said. “Even though you may feel fine, you may be carrying this virus and not know it. And you could pass it on to somebody you love. If you truly love the people you claim you love, then stay home.”