A New York mother who showed no symptoms after contracting Coronavirus has unknowingly infected 17 of her 18 children.

The mother, Brittany Jencik of Penfield, N.Y, said she infected her kids including, some who were adopted while asymptomatic about five weeks ago.

She eventually became gravely ill from the virus and the children also began showing symptoms. Jencik says the deadly flu-like virus, also known as COVID-19, hit the family ‘like a freight train.’

‘It was terrifying. I was a little ahead of them in the timing of it all,’ the mother said.

‘I was as afraid of my life as I had ever been, and not much scares me,’ she said

It was not clear how Jencik herself was infected.

So far, New York State, US’s epicenter of the outbreak, has had more than 223,699 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for more than 12,800 deaths.