Model amputated due to Covid-19 infection, medics remove both her legs

Claire Bridges was recently put on life support after contracting Covid-19.

New Delhi: "Covid-19 is here to stay" is what health experts around the world have been saying for a long time. The global coronavirus caseload on Sunday (March 27, 2022) has topped 480 million and the deaths have surged to more than 6.12 million as infection rates continue to jump in various countries.

Claire Bridges, from Florida, United States, is one such person who was recently put on life support after contracting Covid-19. 

The 21-year-old aspiring model was born with a serious heart condition and due to complications and life-threatening infection, doctors were forced to amputate both her legs.

Claire caught the virus despite being fully vaccinated and was admitted to the hospital on January 16. She, however, is recovering now and has returned home from the hospital in time for her 21st birthday on Saturday.

"She is very happy to be home around family and friends. We had a cookout for her on Saturday, which was her birthday. We're happy to get her out of the hospital life and in her mom's house and more comfortable surroundings," Claire's father told a media channel.

She is now preparing to receive prosthetic legs, which will be partly funded by a charity group. 

It is notable that nearly 1 million US lives have been lost to Covid-19, and there have been almost 5 million hospitalizations. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases at 79,946,097.

Meanwhile, the US government data shows that about one-in-three Covid-19 cases in the country are now caused by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant of the coronavirus. Even though the US Covid-19 infections have receded sharply since January, a resurgence in parts of Asia and Europe have raised concerns that one will follow in the United States given previous patterns during the two years of the pandemic.

(With agency inputs)