By Analou De Vera The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday night said three more individuals who tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have died. Among the fatalities was a 59-year-old Filipina from Rizal province. She is the country's 6th confirmed case of COVID-19. She was initially admitted to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center on March 5 and was eventually transferred to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine. The DOH said that the woman "suddenly experienced difficulty of breathing and was intubated late evening of March 11. She expired the same night from acute respiratory distress syndrome due to severe pneumonia secondary to COVID-19." The DOH also noted that "repeat chest x-ray showed progressive pneumonia," adding that the patient is a known diabetic. Her 62-year-old husband also died on Thursday morning due to "acute respiratory distress syndrome from severe pneumonia secondary to COVID-19." He is the country's 5th confirmed case and first case of local transmission here. The DOH said that the man was a known diabetic and hypertensive who developed acute kidney injury. Health officials previously reported that he regularly visited a Muslim prayer hall in Barangay Greenhills in San Juan City. An 88-year-old Filipina patient also died on Thursday afternoon due to acute respiratory failure. She was admitted on March 6 to the Philippine Heart Center after experiencing symptoms on Feb. 28. She was reported to have existing hypertension, the DOH said. With these developments, there are now a total of five patients positive for COVID-19 who have died in the Philippines. The first one was the 44-year-old man from Wuhan, China who died last Feb. 1, and a 67-year-old Filipina who died on March 11.