ILOILO – A 92-year-old resident of San Enrique, Iloilo with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection died without even knowing if he was sick of the viral illness.
Mayor Rosario Mediatrix “Trixie” Fernandez confirmed the elderly man’s passing on Tuesday night.
“He passed away but wala pa confirmation kon positive case sia kay wala pa result ang swab test ni lolo,” Fernandez explained.
The suspected coronavirus patient, according to Fernandez, was diabetic and manifested low-grade fever.
He was among the 19 close contacts of the town’s first casualty to the viral disease – a 69-year-old male who died at a hospital in Iloilo City on Aug. 23.
The man’s test result came out just on Aug. 19.
On the same day, the local government ordered the surgical lockdown of a neighborhood in Barangay Compo.
As part of the town’s contact tracing, the 92-year-old resident along with 19 others underwent swabbing. Their test results, however, have yet to be released as of this writing.
The Municipal Health Office of San Enrique recommended the cremation of the elderly man’s remains, citing the possibility that he could be a COVID-19 carrier.
So the town could enforce further precautionary measures, Fernandez said she called the Western Visayas Medical Center sub-national laboratory to hasten test results of the remaining close contacts.
Currently, Fernandez said they are still tracking the source of infection of the 69-year-old case who had no history of travel outside Region 6 in areas where COVID-19 was prevalent.
She also tried to allay the public’s fear, saying a stringent community quarantine was already in place at the compound of the patient’s family since Aug. 19.
The lockdown would end on Sept. 4 – or earlier.
“The duration of the lockdown will depend on the test results of the close contacts presently under strict home quarantine. If all close contacts will test negative, then we will lift the lockdown immediately. But if close contacts will come out positive, we will finish the 12-14 days quarantine period para safe kita tanan,” said Fernandez.
As of Tuesday, San Enrique has 17 total COVID-19 cases, six of which were active, 10 recovered and one died./PN
