Richard Garay, 27, said he had been the first member of his extended family who received his positive test results after noticing symptoms like a runny nose, fatigue and fever.

Garay’s father, Vidal Garay, also became sick around the same time and eventually tested positive for the disease, Richard said.

Vidal, 60, died weeks later from the virus, which was potentially made worse by anemia and a recent battle with leukemia, Richard Garay told Newsweek.

“We don’t want my father’s death to be in vain,” he said. “We just want to spread awareness to our fellow countrymen… We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

In addition to himself and his father, Garay’s mother, his two children and sister-in-law also tested positive for the disease, as well as 22 other members of Richard’s extended family.

Now, Garay is speaking out to those who insist the deadly virus is a conspiracy theory.

“As a country, we’re not doing great right now,” he told Newsweek. “We should be united, and we should be looking after each other and not arguing and not fighting one another.”

Everyone wants to make the virus political, Garay said, but politics should not matter when it comes to a pandemic.

“You can’t challenge a pandemic,” he said. “The pandemic is going to take its course, and if we don’t do everything we can to help ourselves, then unfortunately this is something that’s going to be extended.”

Garay and his father battled the virus for days together while quarantined in the same room. He told his father that he believed he would die after waking up one day gasping for breath.

“There came a point in time where we both had a conversation about death, because we couldn’t get up, we started developing breathing complications,” Garay said. “I lost 20 pounds in the 14 days that I was sick.

“It was really bad.”

Garay was taken to the hospital when his condition worsened. Days later, his father followed him there but died June 20, the day before Father’s Day, after receiving around two weeks of care.

“My father always raised us to be proud of our country,” Garay told Newsweek. “He raised us to be mindful of our neighbors and love our neighbors. He raised us to be people who are respectful.”

The other members of his extended family who had tested positive for the virus were now mostly recovering, Garay said.

The family is not sure who first contracted the virus, but Garay believes it was his father, who had been going to the hospital throughout the pandemic to get blood transfusions to treat other health concerns.

“I believe in one of those instances he might’ve contracted the virus,” Garay said. “He wore protective gear, but all it takes is that one slip-up to touch your face or touch your mask.”

News of the family’s situation comes amidst surging coronavirus case numbers throughout the U.S.

California has experienced its own week-long surge of new cases, with Friday bringing 5,614 additional positive cases to the state, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

Update (06/27/20, 10:33 p.m.): This article has been updated to include additional comments from Richard Garay. The updated version also clarifies how the family believes they first contracted the virus.