Balikbayan under investigation for coronavirus dies in Pangasinan

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A balikbayan from the United States who was being probed for the novel coronavirus disease died in a hospital in Dagupan, Pangasinan, Wednesday night, March 18, before the result of her confirmation tests could be released.

The patient under investigation (PUI), a 68-year-old woman from the US, hailed from Rosales town.

Pangasinan Provincial Health Officer Dr Anna Marie De Guzman said that the woman was earlier brought to a private hospital in Urdaneta but when she manifested classic COVID-19 symptoms like incessant coughing, fever, and tightness of chest, she was transferred to the Region 1 Medical Center in Dagupan.

Barely a day after staying at the Dagupan hospital, however, she died. 

The woman was immediately cremated according to her and her relatives’ wishes.

Pangasinan still has no positive coronavirus case.

Earlier in March, a woman who had attended a school reunion in Lingayen, Pangasinan, tested positive for the coronavirus disease when she returned to Australia. 

As of Wednesday, there are 24 PUIs in the province,  half of whom have been discharged while the rest were in different hospitals in the province.

There are also 43,950 residents who are considered persons under monitoring and 732 already finished their 14-day self-quarantine. 

Nationwide, there were 217 confirmed cases, 17 deaths, and 8 recoveries. – Rappler.com