The mayor of a South Jersey community is mourning a personal loss from the coronavirus pandemic.

Penns Grove Mayor LaDaena Thomas announced that COVID-19 has claimed the life of her grandmother, who lives in California.

Thomas posted on Facebook that Sallie Jones, of Long Beach, died early Saturday in a nursing home after a rapid escalation of symptoms.

Thomas told NJ Advance Media she received a call from her mother stating that her grandmother was having trouble breathing, and her oxygen levels were falling. After an x-ray determined her grandmother had pneumonia, Thomas requested that her mother ask doctors for a Covid-19 test to be conducted, especially after seeing what was going on in New Jersey.

“Five hours later, she was gone,” Thomas said. “My family and I are devastated.”

The mayor said her family is devastated, especially her grandfather. Her grandfather, who also has health issues, was married to Jones for more than 70 years. The two had met when Jones was 16, and he was 17. When Jones was 18, he stood by his future bride after she was diagnosed with cancer in her leg and had to get it amputated. Thomas hopes her story sheds light on the seriousness of the virus.

“I am just praying that people take this thing seriously because I believe that it’s going to get worse before it gets better because there are still some people that are not taking it seriously,” said Thomas.

Thomas was elected mayor last year after running as an independent, defeating Democratic Mayor John Washington, who served in the role for 16 years.

As infection rates continue to climb around the state and worldwide, Thomas has taken to Facebook several times to share updates with her constituents and remind them about pandemic safety practices.

Some continue to ignore statewide orders banning large gatherings.

Penns Grove police busted a house party attended by more than 30 people last weekend, just hours after a lockdown order went into effect.

Gov. Phil Murphy continued to rail against violators after police in Ewing broke up a “Corona Party” on Friday night. In that incident, police found 47 people crammed into a 550-square-foot apartment. The organizer was charged with obstruction the administration of law and violating an emergency act.

New Jersey has reported more than 11,000 cases and 140 deaths attributed to COVID-19, while the global death toll exceeds 31,700.

Chris Franklin contributed to this story.

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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattGraySJT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.