Covid-positive repatriate in Western Visayas dies; Bacolod and Balasan have new positive cases

A repatriated overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Western Visayas who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on June 1 died yesterday, the Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) 6 (Western Visayas) said.

The region’s Covid-19 confirmed cases increased to 123 involving a 37-year-old male from Bacolod City and a 35-year-old male from Balasan, Iloilo. Both are repatriated OFWs and now under facility quarantine.

Based on the health bulletin, the new fatality was a 39-year-old male from Iloilo’s Anilao town who first returned to Iloilo in March after traveling from Spain. He went to Manila to process his papers but got stranded due to the lockdown.

The patient eventually came back to Iloilo on May 27. His death brought the total Covid-19 deaths in the region to 11. The last Covid-19-related death in the region was recorded on May 3, a 40-year-old man from Bacolod City.

In a Facebook post yesterday, Anilao Mayor Lee Ann Debuque confirmed that the repatriated OFW died at the Western Visayas Sanitarium. “As of this present time, we continue the investigation together with Western Visayas Sanitarium to know the reason for his death,” she said.

 

The local government of Anilao has already sent a letter of inquiry to the medical center chief of the said hospital. “Based on the daily monitoring of our Rural Health Unit, he was in stable condition and only has mild symptoms,” she said.

Debuque said the local government will be extending financial assistance to the family of the deceased.*