Mar 20, 2020 4 min read

The first confirmed death from the coronavirus in Pennsylvania had ties to Washington County.

According to a story in the Allentown Morning Call newspaper, a Northampton County man, Carmine Fusco, 55, died Wednesday afternoon at St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, five days after his sister, Rita Fusco-Jackson, also in her 50s, died from the virus in New Jersey and shortly before his mother, Grace Fusco of Freehold, succumbed to the same illness. Grace Fusco’s death was reported by The New York Times and other outlets Wednesday night.

Four other family members are also ill, with some in critical condition. Late Thursday, it was learned another family member died.

“To everybody, this is a virus. To us, it’s a person,” Andriana Fusco, sister to Carmine and Rita and Grace’s daughter, told The Morning Call before learning of her mother’s death. “It’s our family.”

Fusco was a minority owner of Wingate Farms, a standardbred training facility in Bushkill Township, according to Dan Markowitz, an owner of the facility. Fusco had about 20 horses there, he said, training them for races at tracks such as Mohegan Sun Pocono in Wilkes Barre and Yonkers Raceway in New York.

“He was a hard worker, a true horseman,” said Dan Markowitz, owner of Wingate Farms. “He was very involved with his family. He was like the head of his family as the oldest brother. And they were all involved in horse racing in some way.”

On several occasions over Fusco’s long career in harness racing, he brought horses to The Meadows Racetrack to compete in stake races. In the process, he made friends with many of the trainers and drivers at the track.

“I knew him, and he knew me. We spoke when we saw each other, but to say we had a relationship, we didn’t,” said Mike Wilder, who is part of Altmeyer-Wilder Racing and a winning driver of more than 8,000 races in his career. “The times I saw him was when I would go to Chester, Pocono, Meadowlands. I saw him at The Meadows for stake races, and when he came here, he came to win. He would do anything for you. He was a successful trainer. It’s a shame. I feel for their family. It’s such a tough time for them.”

Shortly after Fusco’s death, Gov. Tom Wolf appeared in a livestream video from his home to address the state.

“I come to you with a heavy heart,” he said. “Earlier today, the Department of Health confirmed that a person in Northampton County passed away from COVID-19. This is the first death from the novel coronavirus in Pennsylvania.”

The Morning Call reported that the Health Department said the patient had been hospitalized. And St. Luke’s said a patient who tested positive was first admitted to its Anderson campus last week. At the time, the Health Department said that person contracted the virus through out-of-state travel.

In a story published online by New Jersey.com, John Brennan of Little Ferry, N.J., was identified as the first person in that state to die from the coronavirus. The 69-year-old Bergen County man was a horse trainer and was a frequent visitor to the Yonkers Raceway paddock.

Brennan, who trained horses for at least four decades, worked as a horsemen’s representative at Yonkers Raceway, according to the U.S. Trotting Association. The Rockaway Beach, New York-native was a part-owner and trainer of the 2003 Yonkers Trot winner and Hambletonian runner-up Sugar Trader.

The coronavirus outbreak led officials on Monday to declare a state of emergency in New Jersey, where at least 15 people have been confirmed to be infected with the highly contagious respiratory illness. Twenty others were pending tests at a state lab as of Tuesday. Bergen County, where Brennan lived, reported seven of the confirmed cases and also declared a state of emergency Tuesday.

The Morning Call story said the family did not know how Carmine Fusco got the virus but discounted rumors making the rounds.

“There was no party, there was no people in from Italy,” Andriana Fusco told The Morning Call. “Me, myself, I have not seen my brother since February, and the last time he was even in New Jersey was March 3. I don’t want any false things being said about my brother.”