By The SUN
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| Anacleto's death on Sunday came as a shock to many |
A 44-year-old domestic worker collapsed on Sunday morning in
her employer’s house in Saikung and was taken to Tseung Kwan
O Hospital
in a coma, but she was dead on arrival at the hospital, a police report said.
The police did not say what caused the sudden death of
Jergrace Tabiano Anacleto, a native of San Lorenzo, Guimaras and the mother of a 21-year-old man.
A relative claims to have been told it was cardiac arrest,
but this could not be independently confirmed.
Her employer of five years, Jude Bailey, confirmed to The
SUN that Anacleto had her first dose of a coronavirus vaccine on Apr 21, but
could not say if this was connected to her death.
“Grace passed away suddenly on Sunday. The cause of her
death was unknown and an autopsy was performed. No results as yet from the
autopsy,” Bailey said.
When asked if Anacleto had an existing medical
condition, Bailey said she would not give out any more information “out of respect to her family.”
An inquiry sent to Department of Health regarding the case
has yet to be answered.
Anacleto's sister, Jinalyn Tabiano, made a distraught post on Facebook on Sunday, saying she lost her beloved sister "in the wink of an eye."
She recalled that earlier that day, she and Anacleto had greeted each other "Happy Mother's Day" during which the deceased told her sister she was okay.
Police said they received a report from the employer at
11:57 am on Sunday, May 9, about Anacleto fainting in her room in Unit 1, No. 8 Tai Mong Tsai Road,
Sai Kung.
Officers arrived at the scene and sent Anacleto to the hospital
for treatment, where she was later certified dead, the police said.
The death was first reported to the Consulate on Monday by
Anacleto’s friend, Rosalie Mondejar, said Consul Paul Saret, head of the
assistance to nationals section.
The Hong Kong Police also reported the incident to the
Consulate on the same day.
Yesterday, Bailey, a British national, visited the Consulate
to report the demise of Anacleto to ATN and the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration, said Saret.
Anacleto’s family in the Philippines
also reported the case to the Department of Foreign Affairs regional office in Iloilo City,
which relayed the information to the Consulate.
Bailey’s Facebook post that was shared by Anacleto’s friends
and family members said a holy mass in her memory will be held at St Vincent Church in Hang Hau at 10am this Sunday.
The death caused a stir in the community when a fellow
Filipina domestic worker blamed it directly on Anacleto’s Covid jab 18 days earlier, and
called on the media and the Consulate to make it known to the public and the Hong Kong government.
However, the netizen then falsely
claimed that Anacleto was the one reported earlier in the Facebook page of
Domestic Workers’ Corner as having suffered from spasms after taking her second
vaccine jab and was being treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
DWC administrator Rain Tuando who
posted the story about the earlier patient, Racel B., blasted at the claim,
saying it was fake news.
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Another Filipina DH seen at Queen Elizabeth Hospital suffered post-vaccination spasms
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“Buhay pa si Racel, pinatay na,” Tuando said angrily. “Nakakainis kasi ang dami ng nag inbox sa
akin dahil na screen shot nya post ko sa DWC para magkalat ng tsismis.”
(She killed Racel, who is still very much alive. I am peeved because a lot of
people have been sending me messages after she took a screen shot of my post in
DWC’s page and used it.
In a brief conversation with The
SUN that Tuando facilitated, Racel confirmed that she suffered several bouts of muscular rigidity, and
each time, an ambulance had fetched her and taken her to Queen Elizabeth.
But all she was given each time was
just a muscle relaxant, said Racel, who said medical staff also told her she
was just scared of the vaccine, which she denied.
Racel also said she suffered from
general malaise at first that her employers told her to rest for a day.
However, she said that apart from the spasms she was fine and functional.
In its public bulletin on the
reported cases of adverse effects resulting from coronavirus vaccination posted
on May 10, the Health Department said there were only seven ambulance transfers
related to vaccination.
“In the last 24 hours ending at
0:00am today, there were seven cases of ambulance transfers to hospitals. Among
them, four persons were discharged, one person was admitted for observation and
two persons were discharged against medical advice,” said the bulletin.
As background information, it said
there were 46 cases of stroke or myocardial infarction reported within the same
period, which required admission to intensive care, acute stroke or cardiac
care units of public hospitals.
The last bulletin on post-vaccination deaths was issued by
the Department on May 8. As of 4pm that day, the statement said the Hospital
Authority reported two death cases as “suspected serious adverse events with
history of Covid-19 vaccination within 14 days”.
So far, the Expert Committe that advises the government on
its vaccination program has ruled that no deaths could be attributed directly
to a Covid vaccine.
