91-year-old woman is Lipa’s 3rd COVID-19 fatality
LIPA CITY, Batangas (The Filipino Connection) — A 91-year-old woman from Barangay 7 here died of the novel coronavirus, Mayor Eric Africa said.
In a report posted in his official Facebook account 2 p.m., Africa said the patient, who had no travel history, passed away on April 1 and her remains were cremated.
The mayor said the city government only received the result that the elderly patient tested positive for the virus after she died.
This brings the total of the city’s confirmed COVID-19 cases to 10 – the most in Batangas province – tied with Batangas City.
Lipa also had the most number of COVID-19 fatalities in the province with three.
Batangas has 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of April 2, 4 p.m.
Most of the patients who got infected by the virus had a travel history outside Batangas, health authorities said.
Earlier on March 26, an 81-year-old man from Barangay 1 – who had travel history in Metro Manila – died of the virus. Four days later, a 52-year-old woman from Barangay Balintawak also perished from COVID-19.
Like with the latest death, the city only obtained the test result, after the patient’s demise.
The backlog in the release of test results by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine drew the ire of health workers, government officials and citizens alike as some patients from the previously reported fatalities had died before the release of COVID-19 test results.
The DOH vowed though to eliminate the backlogs as the RITM is expected to certify Friday the subnational reference of four major hospitals, namely San Lazaro Medical Hospital, Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Southern Philippines Medical Center and Baguio General Hospital.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said each of the said laboratories could conduct 80 to 160 tests a day.
The Filipino Connection is a regional partner of Philstar.com.
- Latest
- Trending
