MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday said the bodies of two Chinese nationals who died at the San Lazaro Hospital amid the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019 nCov-ARD) threat, have been buried.
One of the two bodies was that of a 44-year-old Chinese man, who was considered as the first 2019 nCov ARD fatality outside of China. The other Chinese national meanwhile succumbed to pneumonia while tagged as a person under investigation (PUI) for having contracted the novel coronavirus.
“Nilibing na lang, kasi yung mga um-oo nung una na ike-cremate, umatras dahil sa iba’t ibang kadahilanan,” Health Chief Francisco Duque III told radio station DZBB.
(They were just buried because the crematoria who first agreed to cremate the bodies, they later backed out for several reasons.)
“So minabuti ng ating director ng San Lazaro na makipag-ugnayan na, na gawin na lang burial. Natapos na ‘yun kahapon ng umaga,” he added.
(So the director of San Lazaro decided to coordinate, to just do the burial.)
Asked if the families of the Chinese nationals have been informed of their burials, the Health Secretary answered in the affirmative.
Previously, DOH spokesperson Usec. Eric Domingo said the bodies were “properly disposed of,” as crematoria refused to cremate the bodies for fear that their businesses may be affected if they cremate a deceased who contracted the novel coronavirus.
As of Saturday, China reported that there have been 722 deaths due to the new virus that was first detected in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province.
The Philippines, meanwhile, has three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.