A 58-year-old Filipina domestic worker in Dubai has succumbed to a respiratory illness, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III confirmed to The Filipino Times.
Bello said the family is now asking assistance to bring home the body of the OFW as her remains are already set to be cremated in Dubai.
In an interview with TFT, Bello said the woman had been working as a domestic helper for 28 years in emirate and had no pre-existing health conditions.
The labor chief said the second death report given to him by a labor attache based in Dubai read “coronavirus”. But he clarified that it was not categorically specified if it was the dreaded novel coronavirus.
“Coronavirus lang ang nakalagay, wala akong nakita [2019-]nCoV. Basta namatay nang walang problema o sakit,” Bello told TFT. “Nung February 1 kasi ang sabi lang sa report ay respiratory illness. Then came February 2, coronavirus ang nakalagay sa second report.”
He said they are also waiting for further investigation results from Dubai. The labor chief also stressed that the OFW did not go to China or came in contact with people possibly exposed to the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Prevention countered the report, “This is to inform you that the United Arab Emirates has not recorded any deaths from the new coronavirus 2019 nCoV.”
“All cases registered in the country have been officially announced and all of them are in stable health condition and there is nothing true about the news,” the statement of MoHAP to reporters said.
According to the World Health Organization, “coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).” Its new strain, the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), was first reported in Wuhan, the ground zero of the outbreak.
