Mom of Lipa City baby who died of COVID-19 tests positive
LIPA CITY, Philippines (The Filipino Connection) (Corrected 7:04 p.m.) — The 26-year-old mom of a baby boy who died of COVID-19 has tested positive for the virus, Lipa City Mayor Eric Africa said Sunday.
In a Facebook bulletin on Sunday morning, Africa said the patient is a resident of Barangay Lodlod and had no symptoms of the disease. She is the mother of 23-day-old baby boy who died of the same disease on April 5.
The baby boy's father and relatives, meanwhile, tested negative for the virus. No further details were provided on the status of the latest COVID-19 patient.
Lipa City now has 20 confirmed COVID19 cases, the most in Batangas. Five patients have died while three have recovered from the disease.
In a Facebook post though, Froilan Caringal, who introduced himself as the father of the baby boy who died of the disease, cast doubt on the latest result of the swab test, which confirmed his wife as positive.
He said the baby died in his arms yet he tested negative for the virus.
Caringal also asked why his and two other relatives' test results came out first while his wife's test seem to have been “stalled.” The test results for three family members, including him came out around two hours before his wife's did.
"Is this a joke? We tested at the same time – the three of us – but they excluded my wife’s," a fuming Caringal said in his post. "Is there no more justice for us poor people? Is money all that matters to you," he added.
Caringal has since deleted the post.
Reached for comment, Dr. Alex Silang, city health officer, maintained the validity of the test results and said the mother's test results were not "stalled"
While the Caringal kin were tested at the same time, it doesn't necessarily mean that the test results will also come out at the same time, he said.
This is especially since the tests were done by different medical technologists.
It may also have been coincidence that the results for the patient's husband and two other relatives came out first before hers. No fees were charged for the swab test conducted either, Silang said.
To date, the baby boy is the youngest COVID-19 patient to have died of the disease in the Philippines.
The Filipino Connection is a regional partner of Philstar.com.
(Editor's note:This article has been corrected. Lipa City's health officer is Dr. Alex Silang, not Dr. Alex Caringal as earlier reported)
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