Story By: Lee Bullen, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska,  Agency: Newsflash

The grieving family of a young man seriously injured in a road accident are outraged after he was allegedly left to die in a COVID-19 ward instead of being treated.

They also claim that he was taken off life support before he died and that his body was then wrapped up like a mummy.

The hospital, meanwhile, denies wrongdoing, saying that they admitted him to the COVID-19 ward as a precaution and that he was already dead when they turned the machine off.

Merwin Fabregas was hospitalised after being involved in a road accident on 30th April.

The seriously injured man was taken to the Region II Trauma and Medical Center in the municipality of Bayombong in the Philippine province of Nueva Vizcaya where he was reportedly admitted as a COVID-19 patient.

He reportedly died of his road-accident injuries while in a ward for COVID-19 patients.

The young man’s mother Mitchilou Fabregas Sapipi told local media: “I just kept crying. It’s not what I wanted to happen.

“They didn’t care about him. They should have taken care of my son but that’s what they did instead.”

She also accused doctors of turning off his life support machine despite allegedly being alive.

However, hospital director Dr Napoleon Obana said the patient was taken to the COVID-19 ward as a precaution. As the victim was suspected of having the novel coronavirus at the time of his death, his corpse had to be wrapped in tape, according to the doctor.

Dr Obana added: “There is an upsurge of (COVID-19) cases in Quirino so we want to safeguard those who live in Vizcaya. We have to treat it as a suspected COVID case because he might have infected other people. He might spread the infection.”

He also said that the life support machine was only turned off when the patient had already been pronounced dead.

It is unclear if the local authorities are investigating the matter.