Philippine Pediatric Society President Dr. Sally Gatchalian succumbed to COVID-19 this morning, the doctor’s sister, actress Ruby Rodriguez, confirmed today.
“We will only remember you with happy memories, laughing and sleeping… I love you so much my big sister,” the Eat Bulaga TV host said in an Instagram post this morning.
“Smile [and] say hi to mom and dad… be at peace, do not worry about us anymore. Have fun in heaven! I love you so much,” Rodriguez added.
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Over the weekend, Rodriguez wrote on Twitter that her sister had been confined at an unnamed hospital, and that Gatchalian was “weak but stable.”
The Health Department has yet to release an official tally of how many health workers have so far contracted COVID-19, but Dr. Rustico Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, told GMA News that Gatchalian was the ninth doctor in the country to die of the disease.
Also among the fallen doctors is a young cardiologist who died of the novel coronavirus, the Philippine Heart Association confirmed on Saturday.
As of this morning, the Philippines’ current number of COVID-19 fatalities stands at 38.