Friday, 26 April

'Oldest woman in Spain' beats coronavirus at 113

World News
Maria Branyas was diagnosed with Covid-19 after the country went into lockdown in March.

A 113-year-old woman - believed to be the oldest woman in Spain - has recovered from the coronavirus, officials have said.

Maria Branyas was diagnosed with Covid-19 after the country went into lockdown in March.

But after weeks in isolation, Ms Branyas recovered, having suffered only mild symptoms.

It means she has lived through the flu pandemic of 1918-19, the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War and the coronavirus.

La anciana más longeva de España, con 113 años, supera la COVID-19.

La catalana María Branyas también es a partir de ahora la persona de más edad en superar el coronavirus después de hacerlo en la residencia en la que vive en Olot, Girona.https://t.co/6bDcty9sYJ #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/pubB2FTmu3

— La Vanguardia (@LaVanguardia) May 12, 2020

"Now that she is well, she is wonderful, she wants to speak, to explain, to make her reflections, it is her again," her daughter tweeted.

Born in Mexico in 1907, she moved north to San Francisco two years later and arrived in the Catalan province of Girona during World War One with her Spanish journalist father. She raised three children - one of whom recently turned 86 - has 11 grandchildren - the oldest of whom is 60 - and 13 great-grandchildren.

She has lived for two decades at a care home in the city of Olot.

Speaking to La Vanguardia last year, she said: "I have done nothing but live."

Source: BBC