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Father Was Released From Hospital With COVID-19 Symptoms And Died Days Later, Family Says

CHICAGO (CBS) -- How could a father walk into a hospital with COVID-19 symptoms, get treated, and get released – only to die a few days later?

That is exactly what Mansour Tadros' family wants to know too. On Wednesday night, they talked with CBS 2's Tim McNicholas.

It's hard enough losing your dad. But Fadi Tadros said his extended family and friends can't even come over to comfort him.

He is in quarantine with his mom and siblings.

"It's been extremely difficult not being able to hug your loved ones; not having them to come over and hold you," Tadros said. "This is the world we live in now."

His dad, Mansour Tadros, was 70 years old and diabetic. On Monday of last week, Mansour started to get the chills, and by Wednesday morning, he had a fever, cough, and body aches.

He went to get tested for coronavirus, and the doctor heard wheezing in his lungs.

"She said, 'I recommend you going to the ER right now,'" Fadi said.

Mansour went through more tests at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

Mansour spent about five hours there, and then, he said: "For some odd reason – I don't have the answer as to why - but they released him on Wednesday evening. They said he has pneumonia and they released him."

Fadi said the next day, his dad's symptoms were even worse – but he had not been prescribed medicine.

Mansour's wife called their primary care doctor, who prescribed antibiotics and an inhaler. Things got a bit better, but then, Friday night into Saturday morning, his symptoms were worse than ever.

"I had never seen a sickness like this in my life in anybody," Fadi said. "It was like a train wreck."

On Saturday morning, Fadi said he called 911. Mansour died on the way to the hospital.

"He was an icon," Fadi said. "He touched thousands of people's lives."

Mansour Tadros was born in Jordan and immigrated to the U.S. with his family at the age of 17 in 1968, the Arab News reported, He lived in Logan Square, when he left the U.S. to take a job in Saudi Arabia to work for an export company, the Arab News reported.

Mansour Tadros took an interest in news while in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, and found a side job as a co-publisher for books, booklets, newsletters, and trade magazines, the Arab News reported. He returned to the U.S. in 1991, and founded the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Mansour Tadros first launched a magazine on the advertising industry in 2000, but it closed amid the anti-Arab backlash of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the Arab News reported.

But after a year's hiatus, Mansour Tadros launched a new bilingual newspaper called "The Future News," or Al-Mustaqbal Chicago, which was circulated in Arab-American communities in Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio, the Arab News reported.

Speaking to the Arab Daily News, Marie Newman – who recently defeated U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Illinois) in the Democratic primary, called Mansour Tadros a "great counselor and mentor."

Mansour Tadros' Future News endorsed Newman in the race, and predicted she would be a champion of civil rights, the Arab Daily News reported.

Renowned print journalist Ray Hanania told the Arab Daily News Mansour Tadros' death was a major tragedy for the Arab-American community as a whole. Hanania called Tadros "a genuine community leader who cared about the people more than the issues."

The family said they have now learned Mansour did have COVID-19. Fadi showed us hospital records updated on Wednesday, listing Mansour as positive for the virus.

In a statement, Silver Cross said, "In the interest of respecting patient privacy and adhering to the requirements of HIPAA, we do not comment on individual patients. All suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients are treated in accordance with federal, state, and local health department guidelines."

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