ANOTHER government official, this time from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), died after catching novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infection.
In a statement, the DOLE condoled with the loved ones of its undersecretary, Joji V. Aragon, who succumbed to cardiac arrest at the age of 58 on Sunday morning after being infected.
“It is believed that she contracted the virus following a procedure she underwent in the second week of December last year,” the DOLE said.
“Our deepest sympathies and condolences to her bereaved family,” it added.
Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III described Aragon as a “jewel” of his department after she served as the DOLE wages and productivity, legislative, advocacy and internal auditing cluster.
Aragon is also the sister of former Labor Secretary Patricia A. Santo Tomas.
She is the second government official after Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Danilo Lim to have died this month after testing positive for Covid-19.
Lim, one of the most active officials during the Covid-19 pandemic, passed away around 7 a.m. of January 6 due to cardiac arrest, his family said. He was 65. (See “Bemedaled general, MMDA chief Danny Lim dies,” January 7, 2021)
The MMDA family condoled with his relatives, even as several staff who had face-to-face dealings with him went on quarantine, since Lim had announced on December 29 he was infected with Covid-19. They all underwent RT-PCR tests but all tested negative for it, Assistant Secretary Pircelyn B. Pialago said in a radio interview.