An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) working as a nurse at a hospital in Riyadh has died from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Raul Hernandez, a spokesman at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said: “Our Embassy in Riyadh confirmed that a 41-year-old Filipino staff nurse at a hospital in the Saudi capital died on Aug. 29.”
He said that the deceased “tested positive for the coronavirus before her death” based on a medical report obtained by the Philippine Embassy.
He said: “The victim was admitted after complaining of fever and coughing. She developed respiratory distress and was put on a ventilator on Aug. 22.”
He said that she was diagnosed with severe pneumonia a few days later and had to be transferred to the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Hernandez said the family of the OFW have been informed and they are still awaiting guidance from the Philippine Department of Health regarding the repatriation of her body.
He said that another Filipino who contracted MERS-CoV was recovering at the same hospital in Riyadh.
“The patient was brought by her employer to the hospital for dialysis and was infected during her confinement. She is now in recovery,” he said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has included OFWs in its list of the four latest victims of the disease.
The WHO said in a statement on Sept. 7 that the victim had “no known underlying medical conditions and became ill on Aug. 15.”
“Her condition deteriorated and she died at the end of August. No known exposure to animals or to a confirmed MERS-CoV case has been identified and investigations into the source of infection are ongoing,” WHO said.
The WHO said that another 79-year-old Saudi woman had died after developing a respiratory illness on Aug. 21, adding that two Saudi men, a 30-year-old and a 47-year-old, are both in critical condition.
The WHO has been informed of a total of 114 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with MERS-CoV, including 54 deaths, globally from Sept. 2012 to date.
First Filipino coronavirus victim dies in Riyadh
