80-year-old coronavirus patient found dead in Pampanga hospital

PAMPANGA, Philippines – An 80-year-old man who tested positive for the coronavirus was found dead inside his room in a private hospital in Angeles City late night on Thursday, June 18.

An initial police report described the death of the patient as an apparent suicide but said “further investigation is still ongoing.” 

In the report, police said that the senior was brought and eventually admitted to the Angeles Medical Center on June 13 due to pneumonia. Since he was over 60 years old and had respiratory illness symptoms, he was classified as a COVID-19 suspect case with moderate symptoms. 

The patient was tested for the coronavirus. Around noon of June 18, he was informed that he tested positive.

Around 11 pm of the same day, nurses tried to enter the patient’s room for a routine inspection but the door had been blocked by a table from the inside. 

Police said when the nurses “forcibly opened the door,” they saw the man dead in an apparent suicide. Medical staff had tried but failed to revive the patient. 

Police said the doctor who attended to the patient “discouraged conduct of crime scene investigation to minimize persons getting in contact with the deceased.”

The Angeles City government said proper disinfection of the hospital was done and tracing of persons, including medical personnel, who had close contact with the COVID-19 patient was conducted for mandatory quarantine.

Angeles City has recorded 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since March this year. Of these total number of cases, 23 have recovered while 3 have died, including the 80-year-old man. – Rappler.com