MANILA, Philippines — A 29-day-old infant from Batangas province is the youngest COVID-19 fatality in the Philippines, the Department of Health confirmed Tuesday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the male infant was brought to a hospital after experiencing shortness of breath. He was then diagnosed to have contracted pneumonia.
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He died of late-onset sepsis due to severe respiratory infection. Sepsis arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs.
Last month, a seven-year-old girl from Ilocos Region also died of the new coronavirus. Her test results came out five days after her death.
The victims of the new coronavirus have been disproportionately elderly but a number of recent cases have shown that the illness can hit even young people.
The new coronavirus has infected 5,223 people in the Philippines—335 of whom have died. Meanwhile, 295 patients have been cleared of the virus. — Gaea Katreena Cabico