Locsin apologizes to UK over death of Briton in Cebu hospital
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has apologized to the United Kingdom over the death of a British national, who was allegedly turned away by a Cebu hospital.
According to Locsin, the Briton was referred to another hospital, where he was made to wait in an ambulance for around eight hours.
“[H]e never complained; got cardiac arrest; doctors didn’t help. He died. Shame. Abject apologies to UK,” the foreign affairs chief wrote on Twitter late Thursday.
In a later tweet Friday morning, Locsin said he was informed that the hospital, which supposedly turned the Briton away, was “filled to the rafters” with coronavirus patients.
“To the UK ambassador: to be fair the hospital Ching Hua—one of the best in the country—says it is filled to the rafters with the infected grossly undercounted by the city [government],” he said.
To the UK ambassador: to be fair the hospital Ching Hua—one of the best in the country—says it is filled to the rafters with the infected grossly undercounted by the city govt. Why our president put the city in extreme quarantine. And it’s not working. Little or no cooperation. https://t.co/ElyMXIQzzG
— Teddy Locsin Jr. (@teddyboylocsin) June 19, 2020
“Why our president put the city in extreme quarantine. And it’s not working. Little or no cooperation,” he added.
On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte placed Cebu City back under the government’s most stringent quarantine classification until the end of June.
As of June 18, Cebu City has a total of 4,137 cases but only 2,078 were active. It also recorded 58 deaths and 2,001 recoveries.
