The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in Negros Oriental on Thursday announced the second death due to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the province.

Dr. Liland Estacion, Assistant Provincial Health Officer and Provincial Incident Command System for Covid-19 commander, in a telephone interview said that based on throat swab samples that arrived today (March 26), the deceased female is the sister-in-law of the late PH 39 – the first Covid-19 positive case here – who tested positive of the virus.

The woman, who had personal contact with PH 39, died at the Ace Dumaguete Doctors Hospital before the test result was released.

Her husband, who is also confined in the hospital, tested negative of the disease although a confirmatory test is needed to make sure that he is really free of the deadly coronavirus, Estacion said.

PH 39, a councilor from Tayasan, Negros Oriental who went to Greenhills in San Juan, Metro Manila last February, tested positive of Covid-19 and died at the Silliman University Medical Center here on March 15.

Meanwhile, one of the two female patients under investigation (PUIs) who died Wednesday at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) tested negative while the test result of the second patient has yet to be returned here, Estacion said.

The 40-year-old deceased female who tested negative had pre-existing conditions such as diabetes, she said.

Both women are from Bindoy, Negros Oriental.

The tests are now being done at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Hospital in Cebu, although in previous cases, the throat swab samples were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Metro Manila until flights to and from the area were canceled.

In total, Negros Oriental now has three confirmed Covid-19 cases, which includes two deaths, and one who had recovered, based on data from the Department of Health.

The third positive case who has recovered is a male who was on board an international cruise ship, where many passengers got infected with Covid-19. He was not tested nor hospitalized in Negros Oriental but at another hospital in Luzon. (PNA)