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Rita Fusco-Jackson of Freehold taught in the religious education program at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Ballarmine.
Five family members of Fusco-Jackson, the state’s second coronavirus victim, were hospitalized at Freehold’s CentraState Medical Center, where the 55-year-old woman died, her sister told NJ.com.
“This has been devastating for all of us,” said Elizabeth Fusco, 42, of Freehold. “Our hearts are broken over losing our sister, Rita. We just need help in saving our family members with life-saving medication.”
Four of the relatives, including Fusco-Jackson’s mother and siblings, were listed in critical condition, while another was in stable condition at the Freehold hospital. Fusco-Jackson’s brother remained in critical condition at a hospital in Pennsylvania, Fusco told NJ.com.
Fusco’s family is awaiting additional COVID-19 test results.
At least 19 spouses and children of the hospitalized victims who were in contact since March 10 have been tested for COVID-19, which infected at least 427 New Jersey residents as of Wednesday afternoon.
Jackson Township health officials are working with their state counterparts to investigate the “cluster of cases” at the hospital, Freehold health officer Margaret Jahn told NJ.com.
“We’ve conducted several interviews with regard to people who were exposed to close contacts, and we’ve followed up with those — so we are not seeing a community spread per se,” Jahn said.
State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli has said one of Fusco-Jackson’s siblings is a close friend of John Brennan, a horse trainer from Little Ferry who was the first New Jersey resident to die from the coronavirus.
Persichilli said that the woman from Monmouth County "had contact with a confirmed case. That confirmed case had a nexus with a confirmed case in Bergen County."
The exposures may have originated at a family event, she said.
"A family gathering in Monmouth County has resulted in the one death we reported and several positive cases for the people who attended that gathering," Persichilli said.
Asked to clarify if the Monmouth County death was connected to the fatal Bergen County case, Persichilli said, "The person who expired in CentraState was a relative of the individual who was connected to the Bergen County Case."
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