ILOILO CITY — The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has killed a 70-year-old father while infecting five other members of his family in Lambunao town, Iloilo province.
In a Friday evening bulletin, the Department of Health (DoH) confirmed that four of the five new cases in Western Visayas region are from Lambunao town.
While DoH only indicated the four new COVID-19 positive cases as having “close contact” with the man who died last March 29, Vice Mayor Arvin Losaria of Lambunao town confirmed that they are all immediate family members.
Confirmed to have COVID-19 is the deceased man’s 70-year-old wife, 48-year-old daughter, 41-year-old son, and 39-year-old daughter.
Another immediate family member, the couple’s 44-year-old daughter, also tested positive for COVID-19 earlier.
With all asymptomatic, Losaria said the family is under strict home quarantine. The local government of Lambunao is also facilitating the needs of the family while they are being isolated until they fully recover.
The deceased father had no recent history of travel, but one of his daughters came back from a recent trip abroad. The daughter initially failed to inform authorities of her foreign trip and was never classified as a person under monitoring (PUM). She passed on COVID-19 to her father, who already had chronic pulmonary disease and diabetes.
Meanwhile, Western Visayas region has 30 positive COVID-19 cases as of April 3, 2020.
Iloilo province had the most number of COVID-19 cases with 11 and that includes the six members of the family from Lambunao. (Tara Yap)
