A 40-year-old man from Taculing Village in Bacolod City died of a heart attack yesterday morning after recovering from COVID-19.
Dr. Grace Tan, the spokesperson for Bacolod’s anti-COVID-19 task force, said in a statement that the victim tested negative of the coronavirus twice prior to his death, and was therefore not considered a COVID-19 fatality, SunStar Bacolod reports.
“Based on the Department of Health’s protocols, the patient cannot be considered as a COVID-19 fatality since he had already tested negative for the virus on April 7 and 10,” Tan told SunStar Bacolod in a separate statement.
The unnamed patient recently traveled to Metro Manila and arrived in Bacolod on March 8. He showed symptoms of cough and fever on March 15 and was admitted to a hospital where he was isolated on March 19. Before testing negative for the coronavirus, the victim also suffered a stroke due to depleted oxygen supply to the brain and the patient was intubated, says Dr. Tan.
After testing negative twice, the patient was transferred to a non-isolation room in the hospital, though he was still on a respirator. The patient was eyed to undergo physical therapy and nutritional rehab after his possible discharge.
“However, sadly today, on his 45th day in hospital, he suffered a fatal heart attack,” Tan said.
Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced that the patient, the city’s third case, was the second member of his family to be infected with the viral respiratory disease.
“We mourn the demise of our Patient Number 3. This the second tragedy in their family in a very short span of time after his mother, who was Patient Number 6, also passed away recently.” Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced.
As of April 24, there are at least 15 cases in the entire province of Negros Occidental, where Bacolod City is located, of whom two people have died. The city’s first death was recorded on March 31.
As of yesterday afternoon, the Philippines has 9,233 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 607 of whom have died.
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