In April, José Collantes contracted the new coronavirus and quarantined himself in a hotel set up by the government in Santiago, Chile, away from his wife and young daughter. The 36-year-old Peruvian migrant showed only mild symptoms, and returned home in May, only to discover his wife, Silvia Cano, had also fallen ill. Silvia’s condition worsened quickly, and she was taken to a nearby hospital with pneumonia. Although they spoke on the phone, José and their 5-year-old daughter Kehity never saw Silvia again—she passed away in June, at the age of 37, due to complications from COVID-19. José found that he’d suddenly become a single parent, and felt haunted by questions about why Silvia had died and he survived. “Daddy, daddy, why did mommy die?” Kehity asked him. “Because she was sick,” he answered, not knowing what to say but feeling he had to respond. Silvia was one of an estimated 12,000 people who have died due to COVID-19 in Chile alone, and just one out of some 930,000 deaths recorded so far worldwide. In the three months that have passed, José has allowed journalists from the Associated Press to visit his family and document their difficult personal journey after the loss of their wife and mother. “I don’t want to give up,” he said.
Life in the Wake of COVID-19
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Read moreJosé Collantes holds his 5-year-old daughter Kehity before heading to a government office to request information about the treatment his late wife Silvia Cano received while hospitalized for COVID-19, and to present a complaint, two months after she died in Santiago, Chile, on August 3, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé Collantes grieves as he cries on the coffin that contains the remains of his wife, Silvia Cano, who died due to COVID-19 complications, in a Catholic cemetery in Santiago, Chile, on July 3, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé Collantes cries as he watches cemetery workers bury his wife, Silvia Cano, on July 3, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity Collantes shows a photo with her mother, Silvia Cano, at home, where she lives with her father and aunt in Santiago, on August 3, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé and Kehity visit the grave of Kehity's mother, one month after burying her in the Catholic cemetery that they visit once a week, in Santiago on August 5, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé holds his daughter Kehity by the grave of his wife, Silvia Cano, on August 5, 2020. “Daddy, daddy, why did mommy die?” his 5-year-old asked. "Because she was sick,” he answered, not knowing what to say but feeling he had to respond. #
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Read moreJosé Collantes reacts after replaying audio recordings of conversations he had with his wife while she was in the hospital, before she died of COVID-19, at his home in Santiago, on August 3, 2020. In one of their conversations, Silvia had told him how to bake bread for Kehity. #
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Read moreJosé Collantes helps Kehity do her homework where they live with José's sister in Santiago, on August 6, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé kneels next to Kehity as she pauses, momentarily overcome by the loss of her mother, while the 5-year-had been playing in the patio of their home on August 6, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity Collantes holds a toy her father José bought her after she became frustrated over the loss of her mother, on August 6, 2020. Collantes says his daughter hasn't cried since her mother died. #
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Read moreJosé Collantes stands in a crowd for hours outside a bank where he went to fill out paperwork to withdraw money from the account that belonged to his late wife Silvia, on August 11, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity balances on a bucket to brush her teeth in the bathroom before going to bed at home in Santiago on August 17, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé blow-dries Kehity's hair as he gets her ready for bed on August 17, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé carries Kehity to bed at the end of the day, on August 17, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé playfully tickles Kehity as he puts her to bed on August 17, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé gives Kehity a COVID-19 antibody test, which was positive although she was not showing any symptoms, at home in Santiago on August 19, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity puts a smile on a drawing of her late mother Silvia Cano, as she illustrates her family at home on August 19, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé lifts a curtain to encourage Kehity to return from the patio, where she wanted to be alone, and to rejoin a birthday party at a friend's home in Santiago on August 23, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity shows off how she plans to use her pink scarf as a mask after she lost her real one, while waiting outside her home to go to the park with her father on August 30, 2020. #
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Read moreKehity tries to convince her father to allow her to play in a playground that was closed as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Santiago, on August 30, 2020. #
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Read moreJosé holds family photos he printed after his wife died inside his home, where he cares for their daughter Kehity, in Santiago, on September 6, 2020. #
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Read moreReflected in the rearview mirror, José gets a hug from his daughter Kehity while they stopped at a red light, as José drove her home from a playdate in Santiago on September 6, 2020, three months after they lost his wife (and her mother) to COVID-19. #
Esteban Felix / AP
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