Nicaraguan Journalist Ileana Lacayo Dies of Covid-19

On the morning of April 29, journalist Ileana Lacayo, 47, was pronounced dead at the “Ernesto Sequeira Blanco” Hospital in Bluefields. She’d been admitted on April 28, with pneumonia-like symptoms. Unfortunately, once in the hospital, her condition took a sudden turn for the worse.

According to sources close to her, the journalist began feeling ill last week. The doctor who saw her claimed it wasn’t Covid, but pneumonia. However, over the weekend her health deteriorated still further, and she was hospitalized.

“On Friday, April 23, she was broadcasting on the program Onda Local [“Local Wave”] and asked listeners to excuse her cough. She suffered complications that weekend. The doctor had discounted the possibility of Covid, stating it looked more like standard pneumonia. On April 28, she was taken to the hospital as an emergency, because her oxygen levels had dropped to 70%.” These background details were supplied by Julio Lopez, a member of the organization Independent Journalists and Communicators of Nicaragua. Ileana Lacayo also participated in the group.

Doctors at the hospital initially managed to stabilize her oxygen levels. Nonetheless, on Wednesday night, her case took another turn for the worse. In the early morning of the 29^th, doctors attempted to connect her to a ventilator, but her body could no longer resist.

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“Last night, she developed complications and she was intubated today, but she couldn’t bear up. She suffered two heart attacks,” Lopez stated sadly.

Ileana Lacayo had been placed in the COVID-19 ward of the hospital. According to Lopez, she was tested for Covid the day before she died. The journalist passed away before the results of this test were received.

 Lacayo is the second Bluefields journalist to die from COVID-19 during the pandemic. On July 14, 2020, journalist Sergio Leon, 50, perished in the same hospital. He had also been admitted with oxygen deficiency, after several day at home. Leon displayed with all the symptoms of Covid: fever, fatigue, and difficulty breathing. Sergio Leon had been in the hospital for 12 days when he passed away.