A 113-year-old woman, the oldest person living in Spain, has now become the oldest reported survivor of the coronavirus.
Maria Branyas, a mother-of-three, survived COVID-19 whilst in the Santa Maria del Tura care home where she lives in the city of Olot, eastern Spain, the AFP reported.
Branyas was originally born in San Fransisco in the United States on March 4, 1907 and lived through the Spanish flu pandemic that swept the world in 1918 and 1919, killing an estimated 50 million people.
Maria is considered the oldest person in Spain by the Gerontology Research Group, a global group of researchers in various fields which verifies and tracks supercentenarians – people who have reached the age of 110.
While other people over the age of 100 have survived the coronavirus, Branyas is likely the only supercentenarian to have done so.
Seventeen people at the nursing home have reportedly died from the coronavirus, and despite precautions being taken to ensure Branyas did not also catch it, she was diagnosed in April.
She was isolated in her room in the care home as she fought the disease before finally testing negative.
Anyone over the age of 70 is considered to be at particular risk from the coronavirus, as is anyone with any underlying health conditions, making Branyas’ recovery even more remarkable.
She reportedly said the pandemic is very sad but is not aware where it comes from or how it arrived in Spain. Maria says her health is fine, adding that she suffers small pains like everybody else and thanked the care home staff for their support.
Her daughter, Rosa Moret, told reporters that her mother is a strong and positive person who suffered a urine infection whilst infected with COVID-19, but the virus itself was symptomless.
The daughter said her mother was bored of being isolated in her room, receiving her last visit on her 113th birthday before visits were prohibited.
Her daughter, who opened a Twitter account for her, said that “now she is fine, she is willing to talk, to explain, to think, she is herself again.”
Maria’s father was a journalist from Pamplona, in the northern Spanish region of Navarra who had gone to America for work after spending some time in Mexico. He was responsible for the the American magazine ‘Mercurio’.
After some time in New Orleans, she returned to Spain in 1915 aboard a boat as her father was suffering from tuberculosis, but he passed away on-board and his body was thrown into the sea.
She also lived through World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), as well as the Spanish civil war between 1936 and 1939.
She then lived in the Spanish cities of Barcelona, Banyoles, Girona, Calonge i Sant Antoni and Palol de Revardit (all of them in the Catalonia region), and has been a resident in the care home for two decades.
Maria says ‘having good health’ is the key for a long life, adding that she never smoked but only ever went for walks with friends as a form of sport.
She married doctor Joan Moret in 1931 and had three children, 11 grandchildren (one of whom is 70 years old) and 13 great-grandchildren.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Buy and read digital replicas of your TRIBUNE titles by subscribing through E-VENDING
P&ID: US Judge Grants Nigeria’s Request To Access Ex-President Jonathan, Diezani’s Bank Records
A New York Federal Judge, lorna Schofield has granted Nigeria’s request for a subpoena on 10 United States banks for information to prosecute government officials allegedly connected to the Process and Industrial Development (P&ID) alleged bribery scheme and subsequent $9.6 billion claims… Read full story
COVID-19: Nigerians Recycling Face Masks From Dumpsites ― PTF
The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 pandemic has raised an alarm over the practice of some Nigerians picking face masks from dumpsites to recycle and sell. The chairman of the task force and Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Boss Mustapha, who warned on this during the task force… Read full story
[PROFILE]: Who Is Professor Ibrahim Gambari, President Buhari’s New Chief Of Staff?
On Tuesday, May 12, there was an official statement that Professor Ibrahim Gambari would succeed the late Abba Kyari as Chief of Staff (CoS) to President Muhammadu Buhari. The official announcement according to the Presidency will be made on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting… Read full story
Reps Tackle FG For Using Foreign Airline To Evacuate Nigerians Abroad
The House of Representatives on Tuesday kicked against the Federal Government’s decision to engage foreign airlines in evacuating Nigerians stranded in abroad. The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by k/Hon. Mohammed Shamsudeen Bello and eight others… Read full story
and then