US woman, 105, who beat 1918 flu has COVID-19

Lubica Grenco was born when World War I began, then she survived the flu, which killed her mother and 1-month-old sister, before enduring the Great Depression and World War II

By AP 11 May 2020, 8:52 am

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A New Mexico state police officer screens cars for compliance with an emergency lockdown order that bans nonessential visitors and limits vehicle passengers to two people as they enter Gallup, New Mexico, May 7, 2020 (AP Photo/Morgan Lee)

GALLUP, New Mexico — A 105-year-old New Mexico woman who beat back the 1918 flu that killed millions, including her mother and infant sister, is battling COVID-19.

The Gallup Independent reports Lubica “Luby” Grenko, who will turn 106 years old in August, has been fighting the coronavirus since being diagnosed April 29 at the Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup, New Mexico.

The Gallup-born Grenko was born when World War I began, then she survived the 1918 flu before enduring the Great Depression and World War II.

The flu took the lives of her mother, Marijeta Kauzlaric, 28, and younger sister, Annie Kauzlaric, 1 month old.

Grenko’s granddaughter Misty Tolson says her grandmother remembers her mother going into the hospital and never coming out.

Tolson says she doesn’t think her grandma understands the current virus because she told one of the aides who walked in with protective gear on, “What the heck do you have on?”