COVID-19 VICTIM. Palapag, Northern Samar Mayor Manuel Aoyang during an oathtaking ceremony in 2016. The official died early Friday (Nov. 6, 2020) just a week after he tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019. (Photo from Manuel Aoyang FB account)
TACLOBAN CITY – The mayor of Palapag town in Northern Samar died on Friday, just a week after he tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019(Covid-19).
Manuel Aoyang, 66, died around 1:30 a.m. on Friday at the Divine Word Hospital in this city. He has been admitted to a hospital since Oct. 28, the Department of Health confirmed in a text message to reporters on Friday.
Aoyang, the region’s patient no. 6638, is the first elected official in Eastern Visayas who succumbed to Covid-19. He is the 68th patient in the region who died due to complications from coronavirus.
Aoyang was buried at the town’s Catholic cemetery early Friday shortly after his death. He was elected in 2013 as mayor of Palapag, a third-class town in Northern Samar with a population of over 34,000.
As of Thursday night, Eastern Visayas has 7,147 confirmed Covid-19 cases, 6,451 recoveries, and 67 deaths, with total active cases of 629. (PNA)
