COVID comes home

Family’s beloved patriarch dies from coronavirus complications



IN BETTER TIMES—The Kators, in a family photo taken last year, immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan after the outbreak of war. Now they’re dealing with an outbreak of another kind. Fifteen family members, including seven in Simi Valley, are exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, and one, Mohammad Kator, center, with wife Mahgol, has died after testing positive for COVID-19. Courtesy of the Kator family

IN BETTER TIMES—The Kators, in a family photo taken last year, immigrated to the United States from Afghanistan after the outbreak of war. Now they’re dealing with an outbreak of another kind. Fifteen family members, including seven in Simi Valley, are exhibiting coronavirus symptoms, and one, Mohammad Kator, center, with wife Mahgol, has died after testing positive for COVID-19. Courtesy of the Kator family

Not being able to hold the hand of a loved one as they take their last breath is devastating.

That was the reality for the Kator family last week when their patriarch, Mohammad Kator, died of COVID-19.

The 75-year-old San Fernando Valley man and father of 12 went into the hospital March 15 after he exhibited symptoms related to the novel coronavirus, said Zakia Kator, a 44-year-old Simi Valley resident and one of his seven daughters.

He was tested for the virus March 17 at Kaiser Woodland Hills and learned the results were positive four days later. The following day, March 22, he was admitted to Kaiser Woodland Hills and put on a ventilator in the intensive care unit.

On March 27, a nurse working in the ICU with Mohammad Kator helped set up a Zoom conference call so the family could say their goodbyes. He was buried the following day with only a handful of family members in attendance, Zakia said. They also used Zoom to participate in virtual prayers.

Mohammad Kator, 75

Mohammad Kator, 75

“My dad was a lion in our family, and he was our pride and joy. He was a strong, wonderful human, and people from all over the world who knew him are calling us because they’re devastated at his death,” Zakia told the Acorn.

“This is a nightmare, and I just don’t know when I’m going to wake up.”

Mohammad Kator was born in 1945 in Nahreen, Afghanistan. The city was involved in a fight against the Soviet Union during the 1970s, and he joined the battle in 1979, said Khaled Kator, one of Mohammad’s five sons.

The father eventually smuggled his family out of Nahreen and into Chitral, Pakistan, before immigrating to the U.S. in 1987. The family lived in Maine before moving to Los Angeles.

Khaled said his father often made trips to Nahreen, where he built a school, several clean-water wells and clinics, and helped rebuild the local infrastructure.

“He was an avid agriculturalist, a freedom fighter, a leader, a governmental official, a respected member of the community both in the U.S. and Afghanistan, a loving father and grandfather,” said Khaled, a 42-year-old Porter Ranch resident.

“He will be loved and sorely missed by family and friends and by the Afghan diaspora from across the world.”

‘Assume you’re positive’

As of April 1, there were 160 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county, according to Ventura County Public Health officials. Of the total confirmed cases, 27 were in Simi Valley.

Five people in the county have died of the virus, all over the age of 70 and all with preexisting conditions, according to VCPH.

Ventura County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin has said repeatedly that he expected the number of cases to rise as testing ramps up.

But Zakia Kator questioned the accuracy of those tests.

When she was tested March 23 at Sierra Vista Family Medical Clinic in Simi, her results were negative, but after her symptoms didn’t subside, Zakia said, she got retested at Kaiser in Woodland Hills on March 26, and those results were positive.

“The best thing anyone can do right now is assume you’re positive and act accordingly because these tests aren’t being done right and it’s giving people a false sense of assurance,” she said.

When her father’s result came back positive and then her own test also showed she had the virus, Zakia said, she was shocked because she never imagined that her family would be impacted by COVID- 19 like this.

“We’re still trying to figure out how we were hit with this calamity, but we can’t pinpoint for sure how this could’ve happened,” she said.

One possibility is that her father attended a dinner party where some other guests weren’t feeling well, Zakia said. After that dinner, she said, her father and a handful of others began to feel sick.

“I’m pretty sure I got it from my dad, though, because I was in the hospital with him for a week before he was intubated,” Zakia said. “As soon as they suspected my dad had COVID-19, I completely isolated myself in my room, and I took as many precautions as I could.”

Despite her efforts to self-isolate, she said, her two daughters still got sick.

Zakia said her symptoms manifested as stomachaches and then she woke up one night feeling like her chest was congested. After going to the emergency room, she learned that her heart rate had been elevated for an extended period of time, making it hard to breathe.

In all, Zakia said, 15 of her family members between 10 and 75 years old are exhibiting symptoms similar to those of the virus. Seven of them live in Simi; all are self-isolating.

“Everybody’s symptoms are weird and different, and they’re staying sick for 10-plus days. Sometimes they get better and get sick again,” Zakia said.

Her family is experiencing symptoms that include shortness of breath, chest and nasal congestion, and gastrointestinal issues.

“Whatever people are reading about happening in other countries, it’s happening here in Simi Valley,” Zakia said.

Mohammad Kator is survived by his wife of 60 years, Mahgol, and their 12 children, 34 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.