Bodies of 44-year-old Chinese national, another nCoV PUI patient buried

The bodies of the 44-year-old Chinese national who died after testing positive for novel coronavirus (nCoV) and another patient under investigation for nCoV have been buried.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III confirmed on Saturday that the burial was completed on Friday morning, with San Lazaro Hospital's director arranging the process.

Previously, Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo had only stated that the bodies were "properly disposed" of, withholding details out of respect for privacy.

Duque had earlier mentioned that crematoriums had refused to handle the corpse of the nCoV-infected Chinese male.

The 44-year-old Chinese man, who died on February 1, was the first fatal case of nCoV infection outside China.

The second fatality Duque referred to was one of two recorded deaths among persons under investigation (PUI) for nCoV.

One PUI fatality was a 29-year-old Chinese male who died of pneumonia, while the other deceased had an underlying restrictive lung disease and also died of pneumonia.