Haircut Led To COVID-19 Deaths Of Chicago Couple, Family Says

CHICAGO — Mike and Carol Bruno, a Chicago couple married for 59 years, died earlier this month after contracting the coronavirus during a short family visit for a haircut, ABC 7 reports.

About a week before Thanksgiving, Carol Bruno visited her son and daughter for less than an hour at her son's apartment.

"My sister works in a salon and so just before Thanksgiving my sister got a COVID test and was negative, and she quarantined for three or four days after she got the negative test," Bruno's son Joe told ABC. "I needed a haircut, and she said, 'Well, why don't I just come by and cut your hair so you don't have to come into the salon.'"

Joe Bruno's sister brought his mother, and the three of them spent about 40 minutes together, he said. None of them had symptoms. They all wore masks, the windows were open, and they didn't hug.

Later that evening, Carol Bruno's daughter began to feel ill. Three days later, Joe Bruno began to feel ill.

So, instead of spending Thanksgiving Day at home with turkey and a slice of pie, Carol Bruno spent it in the hospital. She was discharged later that week, but days later, she relapsed and returned to the hospital, where she was put on a ventilator.

Mike Bruno, Carol's husband and Joe's father, began to feel ill soon after Thanksgiving. He hadn't been over to see his children, but apparently caught the virus from his wife.

By early December, Mike too had been admitted to the hospital. His wife died shortly after he was placed on a ventilator, and Mike himself died just days before Christmas.

"We never thought this would happen to our family," Joe Bruno told ABC. "Had I made that sacrifice and, you know, didn't spend 30 to 40 minutes with my mom — they would still be here."

Experts say the coronavirus is airborne, and tiny droplets containing the virus can linger indoors for hours as aerosols. Masks reduce the risk of catching the virus, but they aren't foolproof, and must be paired with social distancing to be effective.

More than 16,000 Illinoisans and more than 340,000 Americans have now died from the virus. Based on the latest predictions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 383,000 to 424,000 Americans could be dead from the disease by Jan. 23.

"When I scroll through social media and I see people having house parties and making plans for New Year’s Eve, it's just so baffling to me that they think they're immune,” Joe Bruno told People Magazine. "I couldn't get out of bed for ten days and I am an extremely healthy, active human being. This virus just doesn't discriminate at all, and can really attack in vicious ways."

He said he would give anything to bring his parents back, but takes comfort in the fact that neither knew the other had died, and that they are together again.

Read more from ABC 7.