An elderly bishop who is staying in the same residence as Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu has contracted COVID-19 and has been brought to the hospital.
In a statement issued Saturday evening, the Archdiocese of Cebu said retired Auxiliary Bishop Antonio Rañola’s health condition is stable.
The 88-year old bishop was admitted to a hospital on Friday morning due to “severe coughing.”
“His vital signs are stable and is also under close medical supervision by his doctors,” read the statement.
The archdiocese also said that one of its priests, Father Russel Sungcad, was also brought to the hospital due to COVID-19 infection.
Father Sungcad is assigned at the Alliance of Two Hearts Parish in the city’s Banawa district.
Archbishop Palma, meanwhile, remains to be in a stable condition after testing positive for COVID-19 on February 18.
“He is under close medical monitoring by his doctors,” said the archdiocese in the statement. “Let us continue to pray for the recovery of our bishops and brother priest,” it added.
On Sunday, the Health department said 18 more cases of the highly contagious UK variant of the coronavirus have been detected in the Philippines, bringing the total to 62.
The department said 13 of the latest UK variant cases were Filipinos who returned from other countries between Jan. 3 and 27 and tested positive for COVID-19, but have now recovered.
At least 1,888 new COVID-19 cases were reported on Sunday, driving the Philippines’ tally up to 561,169.
The Health department also recorded 9,737 additional recoveries, bringing the total recoveries to 522,843.
In its latest data, the health department said that there were 26,238 active cases, of which 87.3 percent are mild, 6.1 percent are asymptomatic, three percent are critical, 2.8 percent are severe, and 0.91 percent are moderate.
There were 20 new fatalities, bringing the total deaths to 12,088.
