A senior military officer from the Philippine Navy (PN) has succumbed to death due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) revealed Sunday.
Major General Edgard Arevalo, AFP spokesperson, said the unnamed officer died at the V. Luna Medical Hospital on August 6.
"We have yet to receive official medical reports that would reveal the cause of death other than the erstwhile symptoms suggest COVID-19," he said.
But Vice Admiral Giovanni Carlo Bacordo, Navy chief, confirmed that the officer, whose rank was captain, tested positive for COVID-19.
"Noong namatay siya, I think he was swabbed which later turned out to be COVID (When he died, I think he was swabbed which later turned out to be COVID-19)," he said.
Bacordo said the Navy officer was initially confined at the Manila Naval Hospital in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City before he was tranferred to the V. Luna Hospital on August 5 after showing symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath and cough.
The officer got intubated until he expired "a few minutes past midnight" last Thursday.
"He has comorbidities," Bacordo said without going into details.
"It's just unfortunate that this officer was able to contract the coronavirus and he has comorbidities. That complicated the situation," he added.
Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay, AFP Chief of Staff, has directed unit commanders and chiefs of offices to "vigorously pursue efforts" to address and contain the incidence of COVID-19 infection within the ranks to prevent it from adversely affecting its operations.
As of Saturday, a total of 1,137 AFP personnel have been infected with COVID-19.
Of these, 138 recovered but still awaiting their medical clearances, 516 were cleared and have since reported back to duty, and 10 died.
A total of 473 personnel are considered as "active cases."
"AFP Chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay is closely monitoring these developments," Arevalo said.
"We cannot, in this difficult time, fail the people and various government agencies that rely heavily on the AFP to maintain peace and security as well as assist in the responses for the health and well-being of our countrymen," he added.
The military has been on the frontlines of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thousands of personnel were deployed on the streets to man quarantine checkpoints while medical reservists were fielded to augment the workforce in isolation facilities. Others were assisting social workers in distributing cash aid to communities affected by the lockdown.
Military planes, ships and vehicles were also used to transport medical supplies, equipment, health care workers and locally stranded individuals.