Romania's first Coronavirus Death?

The patient most likely to be Romania's first Coronavirus death has been identified. The 67 years old man has lived in France for 10 years. There, he developed lung cancer and is now in the terminal phase of  the disease. 

His wish was to die at home. For us, Romanians, dying in hospital is sad -- even if it's a posh French hospital. We like to die at home, with a priest and a candle, surrounded by family and friends. We like to say goodbye naturally rather then fight a battle we can't win. 

So... he came back. Unable to walk and travel alone, he was assisted by a French social assistant on his last flight home. What he didn't know was that, on top of the terminal cancer, he also has a coronavirus infection. 

Under normal circumstances, a normal cold in such a patient could easily lead to pneumonia and death. Today, however we have tests for Coronavirus. 

When the man went to the local hospital with terminal lung cancer and pneumonia, the doctors asked for a Coronavirus test. The test was initially refused. A few days later, a test was conducted and came positive. 

In this time, doctors and nurses have been exposed to the patient. They are now in quarantine. The emergency department of the hospital has been closed down. 

The doctors predict that, due to the underlying lung cancer and pneumonia, this patient will be Romania's first Coronavirus death. 

Here are the news: 

"The Truth" newspaper tells us the truth, this time. Terminal cancer patient expected to be Romania's first Coronavirus death. They tell us it is lung cancer, which is known to kill relatively fast and it's not debilitating until the very end. 

"The 3rd Antena" follows with news about the hospital closure and the patient's age, but instead of telling us he had terminal lung cancer, they only mention chronic health problems. Lung cancer is not a chronic problem. People die in a few months. 

Mediafax also tells us the scary bits. The hospital is closed. Its 23 medical professionals are in quarantine. They don't tell us about terminal cancer or that he will likely be Romania's first coronavirus death. 

I think knowing that the patient had terminal cancer, a life expectancy measured in weeks and that he came home with the declared purpose to die at home, is important to understand what role the coronavirus plays in this man's death (if he does die). The coronavirus kills people. However, understanding what part of life is taken away from each patient is crucial in understanding the severity of the disease. We cannot just call it a pre-existing condition. Data should be available where know what each of these people have had! That information should be made public. How much life is lost? How many years? How many happy years? We can't just count the bodies... It's not a slaughterhouse. 

Last but not least, how many like him haven't been tested? According to Romanian customs, it would have been perfectly reasonable to call the priest instead of the doctors. The priest, actually, should do a coronavirus test. I would say, certainly, test all dead people; even though here the doctors first refused to test, as it was off protocol. Calling the doctors may not have been exactly the best thing, as they are now all in quarantine and the hospital is closed. But, this way, the contacts have been traced and 5 other corona patients have been found. Otherwise, they would have continued to spread. Are there more? Maybe? Certainly?