‘That was my best friend’: Man has warning after best friend dies from COVID-19

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Family members and friends of Ronald Currence have a message for everyone after he died from COVID-19.

Friend Paul Accor said Currence did not follow safety precautions to avoid spreading and contracting the virus.

“That was my best friend,” Accor said.

Accor is still beside himself with grief.

“It’s heartbreaking,” he said.

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Accor said he and Currence were together every day, socially distanced in Accor’s backyard. He said Currence thought that was too much.

“He would say, ‘I’m going to die of something anyway when the Lord get ready for me,’” Accor said.

Currence tested positive In October as COVID-19 deaths started to climb in Gaston County.

Four of Currence’s family members also tested positive for COVID-19.

“Family in the hospital at the same time,” Accor said. “Oh, Jesus.”

Currence died four days after he got sick.

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Currence said all people must do is follow basic precautions, such as wearing a mask.

“You need to do this,” he said as he put on a mask. “It ain’t nothing but protection.”

Over the weekend, seven more people died in Gaston County from the virus. The percentage of people testing positive has jumped to its highest level since mass testing started.

Dr. Crystal Bowe, a Gastonia physician, said there are many contributing factors, which include holiday shopping, college students returning home and Thanksgiving Day gatherings.

“Unless we do something very differently we are going to have a persistence of deaths and hospitalizations between now and Christmas,” Bowe said.

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Gaston County saw an increase in several key data points this weekend.

Over the weekend, the percent positive cases went from 9.3% to more than 13%. Hospitalizations also jumped from 82 to 92 patients.

Nearly 200 people in Gaston County have died from the virus.

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Cox Media Group