A pregnant woman was reported as the first death case of COVID-19 in Santo Tomas town in Davao del Norte, the health authorities confirmed Monday night. Tagged as patient No. 69, the 27 year-old pregnant woman from Barangay Tulalian, Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte, was admitted at Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City on December 24 around 5:45 a.m. when she complained of difficulty of breathing and pre-eclampsia.

In a report, Municipal Health Officer Doctor June Lim said the patient has expired at DRMC last Sunday (December 27). He said the patient contracted the virus from her husband, who is also a COVID-19 positive, and currently working in a banana plantation in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.

“She was immediately intubated due to asphyxia and subjected to an emergency caesarean operation as she delivered a live baby boy on the same date,” Lim said.

Lim added the patient’s baby was negative for COVID-19.  However, a postmortem swabbing done on the mother yielded a positive result for COVID-19.

The husband of patient No. 69 is still in the isolation facility of DRMC, according to Lim.

With this development, the Santo Tomas Inter-Agency Task Force reiterated its call to the public to remain vigilant and to strictly adhere to all the COVID-19 protocols imposed by the Local Government Unit (LGU). The LGU is working hard to safeguard public health and safety amid the threat posed by COVID-19, Lim said.

As of Monday, Santo Tomas has recorded a total of 69 COVID-19 cases. Of this number 19 are active cases.