CEBU CITY, Philippines—A male patient of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) was seen breaking the glass window of the isolation room which he shared with other coronavirus disease patients on the third floor of one of the buildings located inside the hospital’s compound.
Shortly thereafter, hospital guard Manuel Osorno saw the patient jump out of the window.
The patient (name withheld), a 48-year-old resident of Tres de Abril Street in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, died after he landed on the cemented grounds.
The incident happened about 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 9, 2020, said Police Major Elisandro Quijano, chief of the Abellana Police Station.
“…While the witness (Osorno) was outside the said building, he actually saw the victim destroy the glass window of the room where he was isolated together with other confirmed positive COVID patients,” Quijano said.
Quijano said that Osorno rushed to the third-floor room of the hospital’s North District Del Mar Building but he was already too late. The patient had already jumped out of the window.
The police chief said that the body of the male patient had been ordered cremated by the hospital managed to prevent a possible spread of the infection.
Police continue to investigate the incident as of this writing. / dcb