Camarines Norte’s 1st coronavirus patient dies

ALBAY, Philippines – The first patient to test positive for the novel coronavirus in Camarines Norte died on Friday, May 15.  

The patient, identified as Bicol #61, was a 45-year-old male from Labo, Camarines Norte. 

The Department of Health Center for Health Development in Bicol reported that the patient died of acute renal injury at 1:52 am on Friday.  

His death certificate listed cerebrovascular accident as the antecedent cause; heat stroke as underlying cause; and moderate pneumonia, dengue fever with warning signs, and COVID-19 as other significant conditions contributing to the death. 

As of April 20, Camarines Norte was among the more than 20 provinces which still had zero cases of COVID-19.  

Bicol #61 was admitted at the Camarines Norte Provincial Hospital on May 4, after experiencing symptoms on April 27. 

He tested positive for COVID-19 on May 11, and was transferred later that night to the Labo District Hospital, a COVID-19 facility. His second swab yielded negative for COVID-19 on May 14.  

Bicol #61 was buried immediately (within 12 hours after death) per burial protocol on infectious diseases. 

The patient died within the 14-day incubation period and was supposed to have another test after a 14-day quarantine to determine whether he fully had recovered or not.  

Two negative tests with 14-day interval are required to declare a patient as fully recovered.  

As of Thursday, data from the DOH tracker – as reflected in this Rappler tracker – showed that Camarines Norte had only one positive case and zero deaths. – Rappler.com