An Indiana mother says in TikTok videos that her two twin babies tested positive for COVID-19. In a clip first shared on Sept. 27, her 2-month-old children, a boy and a girl, could be seen in a hospital room with a fever, puffy eyes, and labored breathing. The viral video has been viewed nearly 7 million times.
"Today my 2-month-old twins tested positive for COVID," the video caption read. She also tagged "#preemie," indicating that the twins were prematurely born. Older videos on her TikTok account documented their birth.
The mother, who did not provide a name on TikTok but went under the handle @ashhh_mf, advised viewers to wear a mask and get vaccinated, both of which are guidelines presented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as being effective against the deadly virus. Masks are advised by the CDC for people ages 2 and older.
In a second video, the twins appeared to be home from the hospital. The mother shared in the comments that she was also sick and believed that her other children "brought it home from school and were asymptomatic."
Not long after she uploaded her video, some commenters expressed skepticism that her children actually tested positive for COVID-19. In response, she shared paperwork from the hospital visit. It showed a diagnosis for COVID after lab tests were completed for COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
In subsequent videos, the Indiana mother expressed that she was "grateful" the vast majority of comments were positive and encouraging. She also said that the twins were doing better two days after the first video was posted.
On Sept. 30, which she described as "Day 4," she said in a video that the morning was "rough," and that her twins could "be fine for a couple of days, and then one day you wake up and they're not fine." This pattern was consistent with some other patients who had experienced a second wave of symptoms after already recovering once before.
In the clip, she talked about some of the comments she had received.
There are so many comments that are so great, but there are also other comments that are just awful. There are literally other moms and other women in my comment section blaming me and telling me that if I was a better mom, then my kids wouldn't have gotten sick. I mean, think about that.
This is a hard time for us. This is a hard fucking two years for everyone, I feel like. I'm fucking tired of you guys. I don't know. I'm just trying. I'm doing my best, and I feel like we all are, and we just need to support each other and not be assholes, ok? Can we try that, please?
In the most recent video, she said that her 2-month-old daughter had a "tough morning" with congestion and vomiting. "It's just been tough for her." As for her twin son, she described him as doing better.
According to WLKY-TV, the state of Indiana is "still lagging among COVID-19 vaccination rates as hospitalizations remain high." The article also reported that the majority of COVID hospitalizations continued to be in unvaccinated patients.
On Sept. 27, WLFI-TV published findings from the American Academy of Pediatrics that said children accounted for "nearly 27% of all cases reported nationwide."
We reached out to the Indiana mother to learn more about her twins' journey and will update this story should we receive more details.
For further reading, we recently published an in-depth investigation that found Facebook is allowing the promotion of fake masks for children in schools.
Sources
CDC. “COVID-19 and Your Health.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/about-face-coverings.html.
“COVID-19 Vaccination.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 11 Feb. 2020, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/keythingstoknow.html.
“Child Covid-19 Cases Decrease Week over Week but Make up a Larger Proportion of Total Cases.” WLFI News, https://www.wlfi.com/content/national/575405842.html.
“Cold Weather Virus in Summer Baffles Docs, Worries Parents.” Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/ap/2021/07/08/cold-weather-virus-in-summer-baffles-docs-worries-parents/.
Parker-Pope, Tara. “Why Days 5 to 10 Are So Important When You Have Coronavirus.” The New York Times, 30 Apr. 2020. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/30/well/live/coronavirus-days-5-through-10.html.
Williams, Natasha. “Indiana Still Lagging among COVID-19 Vaccination Rates as Hospitalizations Remain High.” WLKY, 29 Sept. 2021, https://www.wlky.com/article/indiana-covid-19-vaccination-rates-low-hospitalizations-remain-high/37794874.