An overseas Filipino worker (OFW) died of a heart attack while in a quarantine facility in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu last March 19.
Ramon Castro, 36, was about to complete his 14-day quarantine at the isolation facility at the Hoopsdome in Barangay Gun-ob when he suffered cardiac arrest.
Castro, a resident of Toledo City, was about to return to the Middle East to work. He was required to undergo a swab test before he was allowed to travel, according to a report of SunStar.
He was initially placed in one of the city’s hotels, according to Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan. However, he tested positive for COVID-19 and was sent to the Hoopsdome for isolation.
Castro’s fellow patients tried to help him when he lost his consciousness and fell to the ground, and almost broke the facility’s glass door to inform the health workers about his condition.
Unfortunately, the OFW was pronounced dead on arrival at Lapu-Lapu City Hospital.
Speaking in Cebuano, the city mayor said the facility managers will not be held liable. “I see no liability on the part of our isolation facility managers. It was truly an accident and we didn’t know beforehand that he had heart problems. When he came to our isolation facility, he was asymptomatic and there was no sign that he had difficulty breathing.”
Meanwhile, he assured Castro’s family that the city government will shoulder the funeral expenses and his remains will be sent to their home in Toledo City.
