A Georgia teen who lost both his parents to the coronavirus in a week is urging people to wear masks

• Justin Hunter, 17, and both of his parents tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
• The Georgia teenager was asymptomatic, but his parents' health declined quickly and they both died shortly after being hospitalized.
• Hunter urged the public to wear masks to protect others in an interview with WSB Atlanta.

Two weeks after his family tested positive for the coronavirus, a Georgia teenager has lost both of his parents and is urging the public to take precautions to protect others.

Justin Hunter, 17, told WSB Atlanta that he and his parents were careful and he does not know how they contracted the virus.

"We were a regular family, just trying to stay safe during this pandemic," he told the outlet.

The Hunter family tested positive last month. Justin was asymptomatic, but his parents, Eugene and Angie Hunter, developed symptoms that would soon worsen.

"Their temperatures skyrocketed. They had headaches. Horrible cough. They felt very lazy," Hunter told WSB.

The family initially quarantined at home, but they decided to call an ambulance after Justin's parents' health declined. Both of the elder Hunters were hospitalized and died days after their admission.

Eugene Hunter, 59, died July 26. His wife Angie, 57, died just four days later.

The couple was married for 35 years after meeting in college. Justin was their only child.

Following his parents' deaths, Turner will be staying with relatives, according to WSB. A friend of the family started a GoFundMe to support the teen, and it's raised more than $460,000 to date.

In a tweet posted Friday, Turner thanked his followers for their support and expressed his love for his parents.

—Justin Hunter (@JustinHunter47) July 31, 2020

He also pushed for the public to wear masks to protect themselves and others.

"If you don't wear it for yourself, wear it for the next person, because you could be saving that person's life," he told WSB.

Wearing face masks has been proven to prevent coronavirus transmission, but anti-masker rhetoric has made this basic public health measure the subject of national debate.

Research and real-life situations have shown that wearing a mask can save lives.

A model from the University of Washington predicted that the US could prevent about 33,000 coronavirus deaths by October if 95% of the population wore face masks in public.

In a now-famous case in Missouri, two hair stylists who were symptomatic with COVID-19 cut 140 clients' hair without infecting a single one, most likely because of the masks worn by the stylists and salon-goers.