18-Year-Old Wilber Portillo Dies after Contracting COVID-19 for the Second Time

18-year-old Wilber Portillo died of COVID-19 after reportedly contracting it a second time, three months after the first official death recorded of its sort.

Wilber Portillo tested positive for COVID-19 on two separate occasions, according to his girlfriend, Andrea Ferrel, who spoke to KDVR following the 18-year-old's tragic death.

The first case of re-infection was documented last October. Because of the insignificant number of documented cases, Portillo's family was surprised when a COVID-19 test returned positive after his death.

PORTILLO'S DEATH

A CEC Early College graduate, Portillo developed symptoms after his return to Denver from a business trip to Los Angeles. However, two months later, after also testing negative for the virus, he got sick again.

"He was just getting better. He had about a week of COVID-free before getting sick again," Andrea Ferrel told the outlet.

On November 18, Portillo sought medical attention and was told he had a "really strong infection in his lungs." Sadly, when Portillo went to sleep, he never woke up. Two days later, his COVID-19 test came back positive.

CDC RECOMMENDATIONS

According to the CDC, novel Coronavirus reinfections remain rare, but the center reminds that the wearing of face masks does not substitute the need for social distancing.

The CDC also recommends that everyone stay at least six feet apart in public at all times, since the virus can also lurk within asymptomatic carriers.

THE FIRST CASE

The first COVID-19 reinfection was documented in the Netherlands when an 89-year-old woman contracted and died from the virus almost two months after getting sick from the disease the first time.

The woman ended up in the emergency room with "fever and severe cough" the first time, but she recovered well enough to be discharged five days later, even though she still felt fatigued.

Fifty-nine days later, the 89-year-old, who also suffered from a rare form of bone cancer, again developed a cough and fever, accompanied by labored breathing.

Eight days into her second bout with the disease, the Dutch woman's condition deteriorated until she died two weeks later. Tests for antibodies came back negative.

The novel Coronavirus also recently caused the death of an "extraordinary woman," as billionaire Richard Branson referred to his mother, Eve.

Eve was 96 when she passed, and the mother-and-son pair had a close relationship. After all, Branson credited his success in life to his mother and even named Virgin Galactic's mothership after her.