Mexican officials confirmed the death of an emergency room director in the central part of the country as a result of the novel coronavirus. The doctor is the second top-ranking hospital official to die from COVID-19 in Mexico this week.

The health care official’s death took place on Thursday in the city of Nezahualcoyotl in the State of Mexico, where Dr. Miguel Angel Giron Guzmán, 59, died after battling COVID-19 for several days, a statement from the Health Department in Mexico State revealed.

Giron Guzman headed the ER section at the La Perla General Hospital in Nezahualcoyotl — one of the centers that Mexico assigned to treat COVID-19 cases.

According to health officials, the doctor did not become infected at the hospital, but had traveled to Cuba in early March for a seminar and began to show symptoms upon his return. Officials claimed the doctor was battling the illness while in house isolation. His case worsened on April 2 and he went into the intensive care unit at the hospital where he worked. He ultimately succumbed to the deadly virus.

The doctor’s wife is under isolation also at the hospital and is also showing symptoms of COVID-19. The doctor’s children remain at home under medical supervision.

Giron is the second high-ranking medical official to die in Mexico this week, Breitbart Texas reported. Medical workers in Mexico are protesting the lack of protective equipment nationwide despite the many assurances routinely given by politicians. As Breitbart Texas reported, there have been at least three cases of mass contagion in government-run hospitals in Mexico so far.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report