MANILA, Philippines — After the resignation of a top Spanish general over vaccine queue-jumping reports last week, another COVID-19 news from the European country hogged international headlines.
An 85-year-old woman reportedly came back from the dead.
According to a Reuters report that quoted La Voz de Galicia newspaper, relatives of Rogelia Blanco confirmed of the pensioner's death on January 13. They were unable to attend her funeral the next day due to coronavirus protocols in place.
Blanco was among the pensioners in her care home in Xove, Northern Spain who tested positive for the virus. They were transferred to another care home on December 29 for a "specialized treatment."
“I could not believe it. I was crying, after the death of my wife,” her husband, Ramon Blanco, was quoted as saying.
Thus, he was shocked to see Rogelia recovered from the virus and on her way back to their care home last Saturday.
It turned out that the woman proclaimed dead was Rogelia's roommate who passed away.
The San Rosendo Foundation, which takes charge of the care home facility, said there was a mix-up.
“Among the elderly people transferred were two women who were assigned the same room. An identification error during the process of transfer from Xove to Pereiro de Aguiar led to the death of one of them being certified on Jan. 13, although the identity was wrongly assigned,” the foundation said to the Spanish newspaper.
It also shared its regret over the unfortunate incident but stressed that the incident was a "one-off event, among the more than 100 transfers that have been made since last December to Os Gozos."