A 62-year-old councilor from Tayasan, Negros Oriental who tested positive of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) died Sunday morning, more than a week after being hospitalized in isolation and under intensive care in this capital city.
This is the first Covid-19 death in the province and in Central Visayas.
Bimbo Miraflor, capitol public information officer and spokesperson of the province’s Covid-19 Incident Command System, confirmed the death of the man who was reported to be a kidney transplant patient.
He died at around 11:09 a.m. at the Silliman University Medical Center (SUMC) here, where he was being treated since March 10, after he was transferred from ACE Dumaguete Doctors Hospital where he was first confined last March 7.
The deceased is believed to have contracted the Covid-19 on a recent trip to Metro Manila, based on a timeline done by health authorities here.
He went to attend a convention on Feb. 26-Feb. 27 at the SMEX in Pasay City, and had visited Greenhills in San Juan prior to returning to Dumaguete on March 1, health and Capitol authorities here said.
He then proceeded to Tayasan for a few days before he manifested Covid-19 symptoms on March 7 and was then transferred to the ACE Hospital here.
Test results of the patient’s throat swab samples sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) that was returned on March 11 confirmed that he was positive of the disease.
Meanwhile, Miraflor said that the disposal of the body of the councilor will follow the protocols set by the Department of Health (DOH).
He said they have already talked to the SUMC regarding this, and initial information gathered showed the body would be immediately cremated.
Miraflor said all the necessary precautionary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the medical and health workers, as well as relatives and those who have come in contact with the deceased patient.
As of last count, health authorities here have done a contact tracing of 240 people in Tayasan town who had contact with the late councilor, he said. (PNA)
