137 Filipinos in US, Caribbean countries died of COVID-19 -ambassador

At least 137 Filipinos living in the United States and Caribbean region have died due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez said Wednesday.

Of those who died, Romualdez said in a televised briefing that 18 were medical frontliners. A total of 253 Filipinos in the US and Caribbean have so far contracted the disease.

Romualdez is the ambassador to the United States with concurrent jurisdiction over Carribbean nations, including Jamaica, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Saint Lucia.

On Tuesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported that the total number of COVID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad passed the 2,200 mark with 669 recoveries and 261 deaths. --KBK, GMA News