BACOLOD City – A 40-year-old man here initially diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) died due to heart attack on Sunday, roughly four weeks after he had tested negative twice in repeat virus test.
Dr. Grace Tan, chief of the City Health Office’s Environment and Sanitation Division, confirmed this in a statement, saying the city’s COVID-19 Patient No. 3 did not die of the viral illness. His last two samples tested negative but he was kept under observation at a hospital as he suffered from other ailments.
“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,” said Tan, who co-chairs the city’s virus task force.
The patient, a resident of Barangay Taculing, had a history of travel to Metro Manila. He arrived in Bacolod on March 8.
He developed cough and fever on March 15 and was subsequently admitted in isolation in a private hospital on March 19.
His first swab test for COVID-19 on March 19 later confirmed he was positive of the virus.
While in hospital, he suffered a stroke because of depleted oxygen supply to the brain due to breathing difficulty related to viral illness. For this, he was intubated six days after admission.
Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction swabs were done on April 7 and 10 which now revealed that patient was already negative for COVID-19.
On April 10, he was transferred to a non-isolation room, though still on respirator and moves only in response to pain stimulus. Physical therapy and nutritional rehab were also initiated in preparation for possible discharge.
For his part, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said: “We mourn the demise of our Patient No. 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.”
“I personally called the victim’s sister to convey the deepest condolences of the Bacolodnons during their hour of grief,” the mayor added./PN
