Coronavirus: Immunocompromised family isolates to protect against virus

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the way many people live, including a family in the Miami Valley who has been living in isolation for several months. They said doing so could be the difference between life or death. 

The front yard is about as far as the Dilly family has gone from their Centerville home since March.  

“The only time I actually physically leave this area is when Ihave to go to anything that’s medical, like blood labs,” William Dilly said.

Dilly said COVID-19 has changed his family’s way of life. Everything from work to school, which they now do at home. The Dilley family orders all of their groceries online and have stopped doing in-person activities. William and his wife,Jennifer, know it’s tough on their two kids, Alexa and Ryan. 

“We do a lot of FaceTime,” Jennifer said. “Poor Ryan - he is going to be doing a Zoom party tonight.”

But they said these sacrifices could be lifesaving.

“Some of the things that we do might seem a little extreme to some people because we have a lot to be concerned about; so we cannot afford to have anyone from our family to bring anything home,” William said.

Dilly said there are three family members in the home who are immunocompromised. 

“One of us, if they were to get sick, it would probably be fatal,” William said. “That’s not being overdramatic, it’s really not.”

It’s why they’re following their doctor’s recommendation to isolate themselves in their home. 

“One person who doesn’t know they’re infected who is coughing, sneezing and just breathing in the store, and if it’s airborne all you have to do is be in the same space and you can get it,” Jennifer said. “So, the big thing I tell my kids is to always treat whatever environment you’re going into like somebody has COVID.”

“Since it is such an invisible threat, I would just like for people out there to know that it may be OK for you to go out if you might be okay, but there’s a lot of people out there that it’s not okay for them,” William said.

But if there's any silver lining, they said it's being able to spend more time together as a family. 

“We figure it’s a temporary situation, that’s what I keep telling my kids,” Jennifer said. “Let’s just get through the storm, come out the other end and then we’re able to go back to a semi-normal life.”

The Dilly family told News Center 7′s Katy Andersen they’re going to continue to isolate until a vaccine or better treatment is available.

Cox Media Group