Senior Morgan Stanley banker shares tragic COVID-19 experience

As U.S. infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci warns that the spread of COVID-19 could be worse at Christmas than at Thanksgiving, one senior Morgan Stanley banker has shared her family's experience with the spread of COVID-19 after Halloween.

Jodie M. Gunzberg, the New York-based chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley's institutional wealth management business, wrote on Facebook that 10 members of her family suffered from symptomatic COVID-19 and that it killed her father.

"We had no party or large gathering," says Gunzberg. "The spread was through a series of small, intimate interactions." These included her parents' cousins coming to stay from Long Island, visiting her sister's family for Halloween, and having her parents to stay for her father's birthday.

"People you trust, who are close to you, like your immediate family can be carriers- with or without symptoms," says Gunzberg. "We underestimated how easily COVID-19 spreads, even with very few people together. You don’t need to be at a party, not at a nursing home, etc. you just need to be near one infected person."

Gunzberg says she and her family should have been wearing masks while they were together at home, but acknowledges that it's, "easier said than done to do the right thing 100% of the time. " In the photo of her father on his birthday, he is shown with a cake and a mask by the side of his plate.

Following her experience, Gunzberg says she shared her story to encourage other people to "say no to gatherings" and to see loved ones safely (outside, even with masks on too): "This virus is a beast. We were all symptomatic and my father died."

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available. Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.