DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 April) – Two administrative staffs of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) have died of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), SPMC chief of hospital Leopoldo Vega confirmed on Wednesday.
In a phone interview, Vega said one of the two was a 57-year-old employee who expired on Wednesday morning. The other, aged 59, died last Monday.
He clarified that the deceased workers were “technically” not in the frontline since they work in the administration. Vega said those who are considered as frontliners are the ones who come face-to-face with COVID-19 patients.
Vega said the hospital suspected the first casualty acquired the infection through his exposure to a COVID-19 positive patient.
But Vega added they could not determine how the second worker got infected since the deceased employee also had a travel history to Manila.
Vega said the two non-medical employees were among the 12 SPMC workers who tested positive for COVID-19 during a mass testing conducted by the hospital management for its employees.
He said that eight of the workers have already been discharged and are placed under home quarantine after testing negative.
He added the two others, who are in the frontline, manifest moderate symptoms and have remained in isolation at the hospital.
In a data released by Department of Health-Davao, the Davao Region recorded 92 positive cases. Of the total, 52 recovered and 15 died.
Davao City reported the most number of cases with 76, Davao del Norte 9, Davao del Sur 2, Davao de Oro 2, and Davao Oriental 3. Davao Occidental has no reported COVID-19 case. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
