By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental recorded its first Covid-19-related fatality.

In an interview with Aksyon Radyo-Bacolod over the weekend, Kabankalan City mayor Pedro Zayco confirmed that the fatality, tagged as patient KC COVID #291, is a 34-year-old female from the city’s Barangay 6.

Based on contact tracing data, the patient started exhibiting cough and difficulty in breathing on October 12.

The next day, she went to one of the city’s private hospitals for consultation and was referred for x-ray in a government hospital before being allowed to return home.

On the morning of October 14, the patient was rushed again to the hospital for admission, but her condition drastically deteriorated and she passed away later in the evening.

Prior to her passing, the patient underwent swab testing and the results were released on October 16 reporting that she had tested positive for Covid-19.

Zayco said the patient was immediately buried as per health protocols and noted that she had no pre-existing health conditions and had no travel history outside of the city.

Contact tracing is currently being conducted.

As of Saturday, October 17, Kabankalan City has a total of 292 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 162 of which are still active while 129 have recovered.

The city’s Barangay 9 topped the most number of active cases with 53, followed by Barangay 4 with 50, and Barangay 3 with 26.

The city also has 109 active persons under monitoring./DGB, WDJ