Fil-Am is first California police officer to die of COVID-19

Santa Rosa, California Police Department Detective Marylou Hernandez Amer is the first California police officer to die of coronavirus. SRPD

SANTA ROSA, California — Police Detective Marylou Hernandez Armer, 43, who was with the Santa Rosa Police Department for two decades, succumbed to complications resulting from the coronavirus, the first law enforcer in the state to die of the virus.

Armer, a resident of American Canyon in Napa County, was on the domestic violence sexual assault team and worked with the Family Justice Center, said Santa Rosa Police Chief Ray Navarro in a statement. “She was always proactive and there with a smile,” he wrote. “We are all going to miss her terribly.”

Armer often brought homemade lumpia, the Filipino version of a spring roll, to department celebrations or just when she felt like it. Her friends in the department said they would disappear quickly. “They were delicious,” recalled Navarro.

Amer started as a field evidence technician in 1999 and became a police officer in 2008 for Santa Rosa, about 55 miles north of San Francisco.

Members of the public interested in making donations in honor of Armer are asked to do so to the family assistance fund organized by PORAC, or to Verity or YWCA Sonoma County.

The PORAC fund is at porac.org/fund-a-hero or 4010 Truxel Road, Sacramento 95834.

Verity is at ourverity.org or 835 Piner Road, Suite D, Santa Rosa 95403.

The YWCA is at ywcasc.org or 811 3rd St., Santa Rosa 95404.

DC Fil-Am nurse dies of COVID-19

Meanwhile, another Filipino American, a nurse in Washington, DC died of coronavirus, the first member of the 150,000-strong National Nurses United, to succumb to the virus, the union said.

Noel Sinkiat of Washington, DC is the first member of the 150,000-strong National Nurses United to die of coronavirus. CONTRIBUTED

Noel Sinkiat, 64, a surgical intensive care unit nurse for 41 years at Howard University Hospital, died of COVID-19 on March 27.

“It was so fast,” his wife, Lourdes Gerardo, said.

As he was hospitalized at MedStar Montgomery Medical Center near their house in Olney, Maryland. Sinkiat’s condition deteriorated rapidly. Gerardo was able to see him only briefly, from behind a protective suit.

Since her husband’s death, Gerardo has tested positive, so she could not pick up his body from the hospital or gather with anyone to mourn his death.

The couple had visited the Philippines for a high school reunion. Sinkiat went back to work at Howard in the surgical intensive care unit. He worked his regular 12-hour shift on March 12. But he had begun experiencing flu-like symptoms soon after.