ILOILO CITY – A newborn baby boy was one of the latest COVID-19 deaths in Iloilo province.
Mayor Jaime Esmeralda of Igbaras, a town in southern Iloilo province, confirmed that a 14-day-old boy from Barangay 5 died last August 13.
Based on medical reports, both the baby and the mother were normal during the July 30 delivery and had no signs of medical trouble for more than a week.
In a Facebook post, Esmeralda said the baby boy was immunized against tuberculosis at the Rural Health Unit (RHU) of Igbaras days prior to his August 13 death.
The infant’s mother was later prompted to bring the baby to the hospital in neighboring Guimbal town when the baby started having rashes at the injection site, had a hard time breathing and was turning gray and blue.
The baby died at the hospital, where he had to undergo swab testing. The test result that came out the next day confirmed that the baby was infected with COVID-19.
“Almost all RHU personnel were exposed to varying degrees to the patient,” said Esmeralda, a medical doctor by profession.
The town mayor also announced that another patient, a pregnant woman who was going to give birth, has also been infected with COVID-19.
With the exposure of health personnel to the dead baby and the pregnant women infected with COVID-19, Esmeralda also announced that most health services are temporarily deferred including the scheduled vaccination program.
Esmeralda said that the majority of the health personnel of Igbaras RHU had to undergo swab testing.