The family of a frontline worker who died a week after contracting Covid-19 has appealed to people to take the virus seriously.
60-year-old healthcare assistant Mariter Tarugo died in St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin on Christmas Eve.
Nice Marie Tarugo, who worked alongside her mother as a healthcare assistant in the same hospital, told RTÉ News that the loss of her mother was "life-changing" for her family and it was hard to accept that people are not taking the virus seriously.
The 32-year-old, Mariter's only child, said her mother had been worried about contracting Covid-19 and spreading it to her family, but said she was a devoted worker who loved her job.
"She's the type of person who never stops working really, doesn't even know how to ring in sick, even though she feels very ill or tired, she's just the kind of person who keeps on going."
She and her mother had been due to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and had been looking forward to instead celebrating the New Year together with some karaoke and food.
After what she described as a "tough" year working on the frontline of the battle against Covid-19, the pair had booked the same annual leave for later in 2021 in the hope they could return to visit their family in the Philippines, as they had not been to their home country in a number of years.
Nice Marie described how her mother had been fine in the first few days after contracting Covid-19, but when she began to feel breathless they called an ambulance and she was admitted to the hospital.
She died at 2am on Christmas Eve with her daughter and husband Nicolas by her bedside.
When Mariter Tarugo's funeral was held on New Year's Eve, her husband had to watch from a car outside the church because he too had contracted the virus.
Mariter Tarugo moved from the Philippines to Ireland in the year 2000 at the age of 40, to work in a nursing home.
Her daughter said she was part of what she described as a group of "pioneering workers" who moved from the country to Ireland to work in the health services.
Her husband and daughter followed her in 2006, the same year she moved to a job as a healthcare assistant in St Vincent's Hospital.
She said her mother touched so many lives, was kind hearted and generous.
She said she was proud of her and that her mother had given her a good life.
Nice Marie says its unfortunate that her mother died after contracting Covid-19 just days before healthcare workers began to receive the vaccine here.
As she returns to work on the frontline devastated, heartbroken, shocked and still in denial about her mother's death, she is appealing to people to take the virus seriously, take personal responsibility and to be mindful of the impact the virus has already had on so many.
