MANILA, Philippines — Former president Joseph "Erap" Estrada will be discharged from the hospital today after a bout with COVID-19, his son Jinggoy said.
Erap, 83, was hospitalized on March 28 that stretched to almost a month after contracting the virus.
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It went as far as transferring him to the Intensive Care Unit, where he was put on a mechanical ventilator as his pneumonia took a turn for the worse.
His condition began to improve by April 9, when ventilator support was removed.
Some days later, his sons said he was now negative for COVID-19. But he was returned to the ICU due to bacterial lung infection.
"Our family is overjoyed to announce that our father will finally be discharged from the hospital today," ex-senator Jinggoy wrote on Facebook. "We would like to express our gratitude to his doctors for their expertise and care."
The Estrada patriarch was president for two years from 1998 to 2001, until EDSA 2. He stepped down amid corruption allegations that he was later on convicted — and also pardoned — of.
In 2010, Erap finished second in the presidential race. He later on won as Manila mayor for two terms from 2013 to 2019.