She raised three sons and ran a corner store for decades with her first husband, Henry Laws Jr., in Los Angeles. She married twice more after returning to Hawaii, where she worked as a home health aide and welcomed grandchildren for summerlong visits.
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Ms. DeClerck is one of 62 residents of Mystic Meadows to have contracted the virus; four patients died, including three who were receiving hospice care, Mr. Neiman said.
“We’re as careful as possible,” he said, “but this finds a way of sneaking in.”
In January, residents were being tested twice a week, and a rapid test in the last week of the month showed that Ms. DeClerck had contracted the virus.
“At first she was a little apprehensive, a little scared, but she said, ‘God will protect me,’” Mr. Neiman said.
She had also been vaccinated, which most likely contributed to her recovery. The first studies of Britain’s mass inoculation program showed strong evidence on Monday that even one dose of vaccine can help slash coronavirus-related hospitalizations.
Ms. DeClerck is not the oldest person to beat the virus.
Europe’s oldest known resident, Sister André, contracted the virus at 116. She celebrated with a glass of Champagne on her 117th birthday earlier this month at a nursing home in Toulon, a city in southeastern France.
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