DOH says 5 more COVID-19 patients recover; 1 succumbs

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire. Screengrab from the DOH Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine health department on Saturday reported five more individuals who were diagnosed with the coronavirus disease have recovered, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 13.

Specifically, the first recovered patient namely PH 62 is a 35-year-old Filipino female from Rizal who tested positive on March 13. She was discharged from the hospital on March 15.

Other recovered patients are PH 41 who is a 75-year-old Filipino female from Makati City; PH 16 who is a 70-year-old female in San Juan City; PH 17 who is a 69-year-old Filipino female from San Juan City and PH 49 who is a Filipino male from Batangas.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire also announced during a press briefing that one patient died due to the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Records from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that the latest fatality is a 73-year-old Filipino female from San Juan City with no known travel history or exposure from another patient infected with the disease.

She died this Saturday at 4:44 p.m. due to cardiac arrest. The patient tested positive for the disease on March 18.

Apart from the coronavirus disease, she is diagnosed with  diabetic and hypertensive.”

This brings the total number of deaths due to coronavirus disease to 19.

To date, the total number of cases is now at 307 after the health department recorded 77 more COVID-19 cases.

COVID-19 is caused by the novel coronavirus which first emerged from Wuhan City of Hubei province in China.

The coronavirus causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough but it can be high risk for other people, especially older adults and those with underlying health issues.

Edited by JPV