WOR Reporter Infects at Least Six with COVID-19

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, April 2, 2020 | 8:40am CT

Alice Stockton-Rossini

In New York City, 710 WOR's Alice Stockton-Rossini, who covered the coronavirus containment zone in Westchester, infected at least six people with the coronavirus at a 90th Birthday party for her mother in New Jersey. Some of those infected later died.

"I can hardly bear it," Stockton-Rossini told The Philadelphia Inquirer. "I had to tell my mother her best friend died." Stockton-Rossini said she caught COVID-19 in early March while doing on-mic interviews in New Rochelle, then the heart of New York's coronavirus outbreak. Not long after, on March 8, she threw a birthday celebration for her elderly mother, Jackie Stockton, at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on Long Beach Island, NJ. About 25 people attended where guests greeted each other with "fist pumps" and Stockton-Rossini served mimosas.

The following day her mother became ill and was hospitalized shortly thereafter. A few days later, Stockton-Rossini herself awoke with chills. In total, at least seven people at the party have become sick with the virus and two have died, Stockton-Rossini said.

One of the fatal cases was 76-year-old Sandy Medford - a next-door neighbor and close friend her mothers. The other was beloved 96-year-old church staple Ruth Reeder. On Tuesday, Long Beach Island health officer Dan Krupinski said the tragic "community cluster" had been traced back to the birthday party, according to the Inquirer.

Stockton-Rossini said she regrets throwing the party - but not doing her job in the first place noting, "If I had to do it over again, can I honestly say I wouldn't have gone to Westchester? I probably would have worn a mask. If I had to do it over again, do you think I'd have a party for my mother? No."