COTABATO CITY—An 84-year-old man, who had been in and out of the hospital, was Kidapawan City’s first COVID-19 fatality and Soccsksargen region’s second, according to a health official here.
Arjohn Gangoso, spokesperson of the Department of Health (DOH) in Soccksargen, said the man had been confined in the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City since June 19, when he tested positive for COVID-19.
He died on June 30 but the DOH made public his death only on July 4.
Gangoso gave highly technical terms for the causes of the man’s death but among them were cardiac arrest and “community-acquired pneumonia.”
The Kidapawan City government conducted coronavirus tests on all persons who have had contact with the fatality, including his family and workers at the private hospital who took care of him.
Board Member Philbert Malaluan. Cotabato province IATF spokesperson, said the tests, however, yielded negative results. This prompted Cotabato authorities to declare that there had been no local coronavirus transmission in Kidapawan.
But the city government expressed grief at the death of a resident because of COVID-19.
“While it is ideal for things to be under our full control at all times, there are matters that are beyond human comprehension and would be properly left to the hands of destiny,” the city government said in a statement.