Teen with ailment tagged as Apayao’s 1st COVID-19 fatality

BAGUIO CITY –– A 16-year-old boy, who underwent a medical procedure at the start of August, died on August 22, and has been classified as a coronavirus fatality by the Department of Health despite post-mortem tests indicating his remains did not carry the disease, the Apayao government revealed on Wednesday, Aug. 26.

The boy, who was treated for a pineal gland tumor in the brain. died from acute respiratory failure on Aug. 22.

He was treated and discharged by a Tuguegarao hospital on Aug. 3 but was rushed back to the Cagayan Valley Medical Center on Aug. 15, when he displayed symptoms of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the Philippine Information Agency.

The boy was again allowed to return home to the Apayao town of Calanasan on Aug. 19, after recovering from the disease.

Before completing his mandatory 14-day quarantine, however, the boy was brought to the Apayao District Hospital on Aug. 22 due to nausea and vomiting, which the teen concealed two days earlier.

He died on the same day.

The DOH still classified the teen as a COVID-19 related death because he had not technically been cleared of the disease before the home quarantine period would have lapsed on Monday, Aug. 24, PIA says.

As of Wednesday, Apayao health workers have been treating two active cases.

The Cordillera Administrative Region has recorded 703 infections since the pandemic began, most of which are in Baguio City and Benguet province.

Baguio recorded five new patients on Wednesday raising the number of its active cases (or patients still undergoing treatment or mandatory isolation) to 59.

Benguet, where salad vegetables supplying Manila and other markets are grown, has 49 active cases, including two new patients who were confined on Aug. 26.

The DOH says 526 patients have beaten the virus in the mountain region, counting 29, who were cleared in Baguio on Wednesday — the largest number of recoveries in the summer capital on a single day.

LZB