Age is nothing but a number to one Spanish woman.
Maria Branyas, 113, is thought to be the oldest living person in Spain and managed to survive the coronavirus after being infected in April, according to the long-term care facility where she lives.
“She survived the disease and is doing fine,” a spokeswoman with the Maria del Tura care home in Olot told Agence France-Presse. “She feels good now, she took a test last week, and the result was negative.”
Branyas, who was born in the United States, had been isolated in her room for weeks while she battled the virus. According to a local Spanish news station, only one worker dressed in personal protective equipment was allowed into her room to care for her.
Her daughter, Rosa Moret, said that Branyas was “in shape, wanting to talk, to explain, to reflect, she has become herself again.” Branyas moved to Spain from San Francisco during World War I and survived the Spanish Flu, which killed millions.
The care home she was in has had “several” deaths from COVID-19-related complications. Spain itself emerged as a hot spot for coronavirus infections early on in the pandemic and has had more than 228,000 cases of the coronavirus and almost 27,000 deaths.
In March, two Italian centenarians made headlines after surviving bouts with COVID-19. One was a 102-year-old woman from Genoa, and the other was a 101-year-old man from another northern Italian city.
