A Filipino in Myanmar has succumbed to the coronavirus disease as the COVID-19 situation there is “nearing catastrophic proportion,” the country's envoy to Myanmar said on Tuesday, July 20.
Philippine Ambassador to Myanmar Eduardo Kapunan Jr. also noted there are eight more Filipinos who have been infected with the dreaded virus.
“May isang Pilipino nga ang nagkaroon ng COVID na ang nagbigay sa kanya ng oxygen ay employer niya, pero pagdating sa ospital wala na siyang oxygen. So, pumanaw po 'yung Pilipino na 'yun (There is one Filipino who had COVID, was given oxygen by his employer, but he ran out of oxygen before the replacement oxygen tank reached the hospital. So, that Filipino died),” he said over Teleradyo.
Kapunan said the Filipino died of COVID-19 last week and the embassy is awaiting his cremated remains to be shipped to the Philippines.
There are 43 Filipinos in Myanmar who have volunteered to be repatriated. They are scheduled to come home in August.
Official records showed that there are 600 Filipino workers in Myanmar, most of whom are working as engineers, teachers, and as manufacturing industry workers.
The COVID-19 situation in Myanmar has been raised to alert level 4 as the country battles the surge in cases due to the prevalence of the Delta variant. It has recorded a seven-day average of 5,330 new cases.
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Kapunan said the embassy monitored eight COVID-19 cases among Filipinos in Myanmar, with seven of them recovering while one is still under critical condition.
"Ang aming analysis at analysis ng mga doktor doon, sabi nila, ang COVID situation sa Myanmar (Our analysis and the analysis of doctors there, they said, the COVID situation in Myanmar) is nearing catastrophic proportion," the envoy said.
"Ibig sabihin niyan, lumalala pero hindi nalalaman ng publiko na lumalala ito (That means it is worsening but the public doesn’t know it is getting worse) because of their reporting system,” he added, citing the hospitals in Myanmar are already “fully occupied.”