The mother of La Castellana Mayor Rhumyla Nicor Mangilimutan succumbed to COVID-19, Monday, October 11.
Noime Nicor, 71, La Castellana Liga ng mga Barangay chairperson, died at the South Bacolod General Hospital at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the mayor said.
She is the wife of former La Castellana mayor and current vice mayoral candidate Alberto Nicor.
The mayor said her mother, who was diabetic, refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Mangilimutan said her message to the public is: “COVID is real, get vaccinated because no amount of money can save you if you are hit by the virus.”
She pointed out that hospitals are now faced with a lack of oxygen and medicine supply.
The public should get vaccinated to protect themselves from severe attacks of COVID-19 that could lead to death, she said.
The mayor said her mother lost her appetite on October 4 and was isolated in their house on the farm where she had oxygen on standby.
“She underwent a rapid antigen test on Saturday morning and tested positive. She was then swabbed for an RT-PCR test that confirmed she had COVID-19 so she was immediately hospitalized,” Mangilimutan said.
Her mother’s blood sugar had gone up, she had a progressive cough and her oxygen saturation level was going down, she added.
The mayor said because her mother had not been eating her body was not reacting to medication.
The mayor and her father underwent rapid antigen tests and tested negative, but will undergo RT-PCR tests after five days.
Mangilimutan said she had no close contact with her mother lately.
MOTHER OF FIVE
An employee of the Negros Occidental Provincial Treasurer’s Office assigned as a cashier at the Valeriano M. Gatuslao Memorial District Hospital in Himamaylan City also succumbed to COVID -19 at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital in Bacolod City on Sunday, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said.
She was a single mother with five children, he said.
She was initially admitted at the Cadiz District Hospital and was transferred to the CLMMRH where she was to undergo dialysis, he said.
Her blood sugar level had also gone up, Diaz said
“We are all saddened by her death…we lost one good employee”, he said, adding that the cashier had only recently been promoted.
“We send our sympathies to her family and wish we could have done more to save her,” he said.
An employee at the Provincial Treasurer’s Office assigned at the Valladolid District Hospital had also earlier succumbed to COVID-19, he added.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, has recovered from COVID-19 and is back to work, Diaz said.*