(Eagle News) – The Department of Health announced 15 new cases of the coronavirus disease in the Philippines, bringing the total number of confirmed COVID-in infections to 202.
The DOH also reported three additional deaths due to the virus on Wednesday, March 18, raising the number of COVID-19 fatalities to 17.
The additional 15 cases were reported only as of 12 noon today, Wednesday, March 18, amid the enhanced community quarantine in the whole of Luzon island that started on Tuesday, March 17. There were no other details yet as to where these patients came from. They were only referred to as patients number 188 to 202 in the DOH bulletin issued at 4 p.m. today.
But the three additional deaths occurred on Tuesday, March 17, with the start of the stricter quarantine measures. One was a patient from Lanao del Sur (patient no 201), while the two others were patients from Metro Manila – from the cities of Pasig and San Juan.
The first patient death added today was a 58-year old Filipino male from Lanao del Sur with travel history from Malaysia. He was admitted at the Amai Pakpak Medical Center on March 10, and died on March 17 at 6:41 a.m.
He was, however, confirmed to be COVID-19 positive only today, March 18. The cause of death was Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) secondary to COVID-19. He also had pre-existing diabetes mellitus. He is the 15th coronavirus fatality in the country and is among the additional patients reported Wednesday as patient no. 201 (PH 201)
The 16th fatality (patient no. 57) is a 65-year old Filipino male from Pasig City with travel history from London. He was admitted at the Medical City in Ortigas on March 10 and died on Tuesday, March 17, at 10:10 p.m. He was confirmed COVID-19 positive on March 13 with the cause of death listed as ARDS secondary to COVID-19 and pneumonia. He also had pre-existing hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
The 17th reported coronavirus death in the country is a 86-year old female from San Juan city with no travel history outside the country, nor exposure to a known COVID-19 case.
She was admitted at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center and died on Tuesday, March 17, at 2:25 a.m. She was confirmed COVID-19 positive on Monday, March 16. She is referred to as the 160th COVID-19 case in the country (PH160).
The cause of death was septic shock secondary to pneumonia-high risk secondary to COVID-19. She also had chronic kidney disease secondary to hypertensive nephrosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, peripheral arterial occlusive disease, the DOH bulletin said.
-DOH reports 3 more COVID-19 recoveries-
The DOH also announced three new recoveries from the coronavirus, bringing the total number to seven. One was a 24-year old male, and two were 34-year old males — all Filipinos.
One was a repatriate from the Diamond Princess cruise ship, while the two others also had travel history outside the country — United Arab Emirates and Australia.
(Eagle News Service)
