Pinoy MV Athens Bridge crew member with India variant dies

One of the seafarers from the MV Athens Bridge who tested positive for the B.1.617 coronavirus variant first detected in India has died, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the seafarer was a 63-year-old hypertensive male who hailed from Tarlac but had been staying in Parañaque. He died due to complications of COVID-19 last week.

He was one of the four B.1.617 variant cases from the MV Athens Bridge who were admitted to a hospital in Manila. 

Vergeire said the three other cases are now recovering.

A total of nine seafarers aboard the MV Athens Bridge were found to have the B.1.617 variant.

“The rest of the members of the crew were already tagged as recovered. Ibabalik na po sa kanilang mga local governments [They will be sent back to their respective local governments],” Vergeire said in an online briefing.

Meanwhile, the country’s first two B.1.617 variant cases and their close contacts are now back to their hometowns after recovering from or testing negative for COVID-19. 

Vergeire said one case, a seafarer from Belgium, is still under monitoring.

The Philippines has logged 1,184,706 COVID-19 cases, including 19,983 deaths, as of Monday afternoon. —KBK/BM, GMA News