This came through on my Facebook today. The chap in question is relatively local. A Filipino Space Engineer of 47 years of age. I’m Angela and this is my dear friend, Rhoel Ribaya. At the age of 47, he contracted corona virus. He battled the disease for 2 months in ITU and his success story as the last Covid-19 patient to be discharged from Blackpool victoria’s intensive care unit was featured in BBC news marking the end of the pandemic’s 1st wave. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-53582768 He survived months of being intubated without friends or family by his side. But the war was far from over. Despite being declared Covid-free, he suffered the long term effects of the virus. His life never went back to normal. Breathing became difficult. There many late nights of being rushed back to the hospital. On October 13, 2020, he suffered a cardiac arrest in his home. He was comatose for 2 days until he finally passed away on October 15, 2020.
Yes I remember the story, I'm sure you John or someone else posted about him here already, but this is very sad news, permanent organ damaged is now considered one of the 'long' Covid symptoms damage to the heart being high on the list of organs damaged by this virus and you can bet his case won't be counted in the death toll as they now only count deaths within 28 days of a positive test. Tragic
It seems he worked at BAE which is a local firm. We never knew this chap but have met people who knew him.
Another newspaper article from Blackpool but from back in May. The article expresses concern of the number of Filipinos who have died of Covid19. https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/...oes-calls-do-more-keep-nhs-staff-safe-2855775 “Francis Fernando, a nurse and officer for the Filipino Nurses Association UK, said he believes more of his compatriots have died working in the UK health and care system during the crisis than in the Phillippines.“
This is intriguing, that's not a nice word to use in the context of what's happening but it says something about the effectiveness of quarantine measures in the Philippines itself. If there is a predisposition to severe disease it is being well suppressed at home or we would be hearing something about it through our relatives over there.
They get all the vitamin d they could ever want or need at home in the Philippines and possibly a better diet! Not quite so in the U.K.
“Black and Asian communities more likely to be hospitalised with Covid19“ https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/202...-likely-to-be-hospitalised-with-covid-19.html “England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty said: “The evidence is now clear that people from black and minority ethnic groups are more severely affected by COVID-19.“
Here is another report. I recall at the time this was going on. Filipino frontline workers suffer highest death rate. “The country’s UK ambassador has called for staff to be ‘properly protected’ after figures show the death rate among Filipinos was the highest across the NHS and care services. As of May 16, there have been 173 confirmed Covid-19 deaths of frontline health and care workers. Of those, 23 (approximately 13 per cent) were of Filipino heritage.“ https://metro.co.uk/2020/05/17/filipino-frontline-workers-suffer-highest-coronavirus-death-rate-uk-healthcare-system-12716971