Coronavirus attack kills 17 war veterans but no new infection, death

MANILA, Philippines—At least 17 war veterans had fallen to COVID-19, according to the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) on Thursday (April 30).

The agency taking care of veterans’ needs reported that since March 11, 67 veterans had tested positive for coronavirus out of 1,097 in suspected infections.

Dominador Chiong, director of the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC), said most of the fatalities were the elderly with ages ranging from 70 to 80 years old.

The oldest fatality was an 88-year-old World War 2 veteran. Two other fatalities were a 65-year-old and a 43-year-old.

The PVAO said that the viral disease was “truly very lethal” to those with pre-existing conditions, like the veterans who did not survive the coronavirus attack.

Six of those who died were undergoing dialysis, two had terminal cancer, while the rest had hypertension, diabetes, chronic renal and heart failure, Chiong said.

About a third of the fatalities had to be immediately intubated upon arrival at the VMMC but died several hours later.

Forty-eight out of the 67 veterans confirmed to have coronavirus were doing better and some have been sent home for self-quarantine, Chiong said.

For the past seven days, there have been no new cases and no new deaths. At least 300 of the veterans are awaiting test results, however.

“While too early to make conclusions, the trend is encouraging,” Chiong said.

Edited by TSB