A 30-year-old man from Texas died after contracting COVID-19 from a party. The man, who has not been identified, told his nurse he thought the virus was a "hoax" and realized he had made a mistake.

"This is a party held by somebody diagnosed by the COVID virus, and the thought is to see if the virus is real and to see if anyone gets infected," Chief Medical Officer of Methodist Healthcare Dr. Jane Appleby told WOAI. "Just before the patient died, they looked at their nurse and said 'I think I made a mistake, I thought this was a hoax, but it's not.'"

Appleby said she decided to publicize the case because she is concerned that many people in Texas aren't taking the threat of the virus seriously. She pointed out that many of the new patients are younger individuals.

"People will come in initially, and they don't look so bad. They don't look really sick, but when you check their oxygen levels, and you check their lab tests, they're really sicker than they appear on the surface," Appleby told KSAT.

She told the news station she hopes that this case is a wake-up call for people to start following social distancing guidelines and wearing a mask in public.

"My plea to our community and especially all of our young folks in the community is to take it seriously. Wear your mask," Appleby said.

Photo: Getty Images

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