The House of Representatives (HRep) employee who passed away due to the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) before dawn Sunday is reportedly the youngest Filipino to die from the dreaded disease.
“Sad news. The HRep employee who was positive with COVID-19 passed away earlier today (Sunday) at 1:45 a.m.,” Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles told reporters via viber.
“I hope the Secretary-General will conduct contact tracing in the HRep ASAP,” he said.
Last Thursday, House Secretary-General Luis Montales bared that the particular employee–a staff from the Printing Office–had tested positive for COVID-19. The patient last reported for work on March 3.
A separate source said the patient, a male, was 41 years old. His sister-in-law and mother are reportedly assigned with the House Committee Affairs Department. They have also been tested and are awaiting results.
The patient neither had travel history in other countries with COVID-19 cases nor had any contact with a confirmed case. Reports said that the individual has had various health issues and had been in and out of the hospital since last year, including a lengthy hospitalization last November.
The entire Printing Office staff had since been told to undergo quarantine.
Nograles has asked his House colleagues to be mindful of symptoms in connection with COVID-19.
The House of Representatives — the workplace of the country’s 302 congressmen and their respective staff — began a two-month summer recess last March 12. (Ellson A. Quismorio)
