Extended Families Living Together Raise Risks For COVID-19 Transmission

Maria Hernandez (top row, second from left) and her extended family live together in Los Angeles. When she was diagnosed with the coronavirus, she self-isolated in an upstairs bedroom.

Courtesy of Maria Hernandez

Maria Hernandez shares a four-bedroom house in Los Angeles with her husband, Michael Josephy, three of her daughters and her 85-year-old mother. Her 3-year-old granddaughter often stays there, too.

To Hernandez, family is everything. Family members are close. So when the pandemic hit, she was worried about her family contracting the coronavirus.

“It was a challenge mostly to think about my mother,” she said.