MANILA - Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Saturday said he has lost his "favorite" sister Catherine to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"Just this morning, we received the news that my sister, my favorite dear sister Cathy already left us," Bello said during the virtual Laging Handa presser.

Bello said his sister had been confined in a hospital on March 25 and was found to have been infected with the virus.

"She was about to recover pero 'di ko alam anong nangyari, nag-relapse (I don't know what happened, there was a relapse)," he said.

As of Friday, the number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines was at 5,878. The tally includes 387 people who succumbed to the disease while 487 have recovered.

"Paborito ko si Catherine, sumusunod sa akin 'yun, the first to die among 10 children," he said.

(She was my favorite. She listened to me, she was the first to die among 10 children.)

Despite his family's loss, Bello continued giving updates to the public on COVID-19 response.