By Glazyl Y. Masculino
SILAY City – A 62-year-old man in Silay City, Negros Occidental died of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Wednesday, August 5.
This was confirmed by Mayor Mark Golez in a media interview yesterday.
Golez said the fatality, tagged as Patient No. 23, was the first COVID-19 fatality in the city.
Golez said the patient was infected after his daughter, who is a nurse working in Bacolod, was first diagnosed with COVID-19. Both of them were symptomatic, he added.
On August 3, the senior citizen started to exhibit COVID symptoms and was admitted to a government hospital in Bacolod City.
The following day, his Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test came out, indicating he was positive for the virus.
He was then isolated, but he expired the next day.
Golez said three households near the patient’s house were already sealed off.
“Ginakasubo ta ang natabo. But contact tracing is now ongoing,” he added.
He also said that the fatality’s wife also tested positive for COVID-19 and is now recovering from the infection at the city’s healing center, along with her daughter.
He said the family’s case can be considered a local transmission.
As of August 7, the city has a total of 30 COVID cases, the mayor said.