(Eagle News)–Three more novel coronavirus patients have died, the Department of Health announced, bringing the total to five.
According to the DOH, the three all had prior health complications.
Patients 5 and 6 were a husband and wife who were confined at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
Patient 5, who frequented a Muslim prayer hall in Greenhills, was 62.
He had diabetes, hypertension, and an acute kidney injury aside from COVID-19.
He began developing symptoms on Feb. 25 and tested positive for COVID-19 on March 5.
He died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome from severe pneumonia on Thursday morning.
Patient 6, his wife, was 59 years old.
She started experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on February 27.
She was a diabetic who tested positive for the disease on March 6.
She died of acute respiratory distress syndrome due to severe pneumonia on Wednesday night.
“(She) suddenly experienced difficulty of breathing and was intubated late evening of March 11,” the DOH said.
Repeat Xrays found she also had progressive pneumonia.
Patient 37, an 88-year-old female, was also reported to have hypertension before testing positive for COVID-19.
A Pasig City resident, she was confined in the Philippine Heart Center when she began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on February 28.
She tested positive for the disease on Wednesday.
She died of acute respiratory failure on Thursday afternoon.
The Philippines has so far confirmed 52 COVID-19 cases.
President Rodrigo Duterte has temporarily banned land, domestic air and sea travel to and from Metro Manila as a precaution against the disease.
