DAVAO CITY - A 63-year old male patient from Mati City in Davao Oriental province who died due to coronavirus disease on May 17 tested positive for the South African coronavirus variant.
Citing reports from the Provincial Epidemiologic Surveillance Unit (PESU), the provincial government of Davao Oriental in a statement Friday, July 9, said the result of the swab specimen taken from the patient came in Thursday night (July 8).
"The deceased patient, who was admitted at the Davao Regional Medical Center on May 9, 2021, died due to respiratory failure secondary to acute distress syndrome, secondary to COVID-19 pneumonia. He had also endured comorbidities such as hypertension and diabetes," the provincial government said.
It added that the Provincial Task Force COVID-19 has advised the public to "strictly adhere to the standard health protocols and to abide with the current quarantine guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus."
"The Task Force further advise the public to have themselves vaccinated to get protection against the dreaded disease," it said.
As of Thursday, the Department of Health Davao Center for Health Development reported 485 new cases of COVID-19 in the region bringing the total number of active cases to 8,167.
Of the new cases, 51 were from Davao Oriental while 226 were from Davao City.
To date, Davao Oriental has recorded a total of 3,000 cases with 338 total active cases, 2,578 recoveries and 84 deaths.
Meanwhile, Davao de Oro recorded 21 new cases, Davao del Norte with 136 cases, Davao del Sur with 48 cases, and Davao Occidental with three cases.
The DOH Davao region also recorded 12 deaths on Thursday, including four patients from Davao Oriental, three from Davao City, three from Davao del Norte, and two from Davao de Oro.