MANILA, Philippines – Erik Belfrage, the Philippines’ honorary consul general in Stockholm, Sweden, succumbed to the coronavirus disease. 

Swedish news website Aftonbladet said that the 74-year-old Belfrage died of COVID-19 on Saturday, April 18. This was also confirmed to Rappler by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez on Sunday, April 19.

“We have an initial report and waiting for more details… We received a call from our embassy,” Meñez said in a text message. 

Belfrage is survived by his wife Anna, who told Aftonbladet her husband had been nursed at the Sankt Göran hospital in the past two weeks before his death. 

Belfrage was appointed honorary consul general of the Philippines in Stockholm in 2013. He was the founder and chairman partner of Consilio International AB, an independent strategic advisory firm based in Stockholm. 

He previously worked for the German private bank Sal Oppenheim before starting his diplomatic service career in 1970. He has since been assigned to several foreign posts across the world, including Geneva in Switzerland, Washington DC in the United States, Bucharest in Romania, Hungary, Beirut, Lebanon, and Paris in France.  

Earlier this month, Philippine Ambassador to Lebanon Bernardita Catalla died in Beirut, Lebanon due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Catalla died on April 2,  She was 62.

As of Saturday, COVID-19 has infected at least 2,289,500 people across the world, with over 157,000 patients killed by the fast-spreading disease. In the Philippines, over 6,000 people already acquired COVID-19. – Rappler.com