B.C. care-home worker called a 'tireless provider' dies from COVID-19

FlozierTabanginsaid her husband, Warlito Valdez, was a hero.

Valdez died of COVID-19 last weekend. He was 47.

His employer, the Richmond Society for Community Living, said itbecame aware he caught it on the jobasa residential worker helpingpeople with intellectual and physical disabilities.

"He was a hero. He loved his work so much," Tabangintold reporters from the front door of her Richmond home where she is self-isolating.

FlozierTabangin talks about her husband and her worries about the future:

'Now that he's gone, how can we survive?: 'B.C.'s Flozier Tabangin mourns her husband, a care home worker

5 years ago

Duration 0:48

Flozier Tabangin says her husband, Warlito Valdez, was a hero for his dedication to his job and family. She's worried about their future now that he has died of COVID-19.

"My husband has a very good heart. He is such a gentleman and a very nice person, loving husband.

"It's just too sad he's gone."

Now, she said, her only priorityis how to raise and provide for their young daughter without him.

'Tireless provider'

Valdez died April 5, according to a GoFundMe page thatValdez'sco-workers started.The page described him as a "tireless provider" who worked multiple jobs.

Friend and former co-worker Minerva Rivera, speaking on the phone from Montreal, said she witnessed his dedication for 13 years.

She and Valdez worked in Saudi Arabia from 2001 to 2014, she said, as nurses at a hospital dispensary. They became fast friends andValdez is the godfather of her son.

"He's like a father, a brother to everyone," Rivera said. "He is so nice. He's a person you can talk to about anything."

Rivera said she and Valdez were both from the same part of the Philippines. He did his post-secondary education there before working abroad.

They last spoke about a month ago. She was planning to visit him and meet his family. He insisted she stay in the spare room of his house instead of paying for a hotel.

"Ifyou need something you can count on him any time," she said.

'Shocked and saddened'

The Richmond Society for Community Livingwas informed of Valdez's death over the weekend, acting executive director Shannon Crofton said in an email.

"We were shocked and saddened," Crofton wrote. "We grieve the loss of a friend and colleague; RSCL has reached out to Warlito's family to arrange for any support that we may offer during this difficult time."

The society has had pandemic control policies in place since early March, she added, and is following the recommendations of health authorities to protect staff and clients.

Still, maintaining physical distancing while providing individualsupport is "challenging."

Crofton said the society has been in contact daily with staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 and has offered helplike grocery delivery.

RSCL provides services for people with developmental disabilities, according to its website. Those services include skills training and residential care homes for adults.

'It's a very deadly virus'

Tabangin said she's not looking to assign blame for the loss of her husband.

"I'm worried, too. I'm a health care worker, but [I have] no choice," Tabangin said.

"You don't know where, when, can you have this disease, right? It's a very deadly virus."

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