Almost two-thirds of 29 people believed to have died so far worked in the health sector

As many as 29 people from the Philippines or with Filipino heritage – including a Grenfell Tower fire survivor – are believed to have died from Covid-19, as the pandemic exerts a heavy toll on a community that helps form the backbone to Britain’s healthcare sector.

Some 18 of those who have lost their lives worked in the health sector, in roles including NHS nurses and porters, healthcare assistants and care home staff. A number of others are critically ill in intensive care.

Among members of the Filipino community to have died is Virgilio “Larry” Castro, 63, who survived the Grenfell Tower fire less than three years ago, the Guardian has learned. He died on 9 April.

Castro, who had worked as a maintenance supervisor and at a bar, initially tried to fight the blaze and escaped in shorts and a T-shirt. He told the inquiry that he often thought about it and had suffered breathing problems since.

In evidence to the inquiry into the fire in which 72 people died, Castro told how he had lost many people he knew. “The Grenfell Tower fire is such a tragedy; it shouldn’t have been allowed to happen and I want the public inquiry to ensure it can never happen again,” said Castro.

Castro lived with his family on the 17th floor of the 24-storey tower for 26 years. He and his wife, who died a decade ago, moved into the tower in April 1991 just after their daughter was born.

“I have watched my daughter grow up in that flat and have many fond memories of living there as a family,” he told the inquiry. He said that he had cried at a CCTV image, provided by police, of him leaving the tower in only a white T-shirt and yellow shorts. “I still find it difficult to look at that photograph.”

The deaths of at least 21 Filipinos in the UK have been confirmed by the Guardian where Covid-19 was contracted or where they had been suffering from symptoms prior to death. A further eight people are on a list which community leaders have been compiling, where Covid-19 is believed to have been a factor.

Echoing concern elsewhere, there is anger that Filipino workers are among those bearing the brunt of a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers.

There are about 200,000 Filipinos in the UK, and 18,500 of them in the NHS according to House of Commons library data from 2019, making them the most numerous nationality working in the health service after Britons and Indians.

“It is breaking our hearts because we are talking about friends, family and close colleagues,” said Emily Barrameda of United Filipino Global (UFG), an organisation which represents Filipino overseas workers.

“Like so many others, we don’t know what is happening and it’s hard in some cases not to believe that there is also some discrimination. In some hospitals where there is a British person who is positive with Covid-19 and a Filipino one … it seems that they will choose to prioritise the British one.”

She referred to the death of a friend, Amor Padilla Gatinao, 50, who worked as a nurse at St Charles hospital, in west London, and died after falling ill on Mother’s Day. The nurse’s husband has reportedly told how an ambulance crew refused to take her to hospital nine days before she died of coronavirus, after he took her there himself by car.

Other Filipinos who have died include John Alagos, 23, who become the third UK nurse to die after caring for coronavirus patients and is believed to have become the youngest British medic to succumb to the virus.

His mother, Gina Gustilo, has spoken of how her son fell ill at Watford general hospital after a 12-hour shift.

Other victims included Oscar King Jr and Elbert Rico, two porters at Oxford’s John Radcliffe hospital who died last weekend weekend. King Jr, who was described as a devoted father to his 10-year-old daughter, died on Saturday an hour after being brought to hospital after isolating at home with symptoms consistent with the virus. King Jr’s wife, Twilight, has been recovering after she was also taken to hospital.

The partner of Leilani Medel, 41, a nurse in Bridgend, South Wales, who died on 10 April has also been treated after being brought to hospital with severe symptoms of the virus. Medel had worked in care homes and hospitals for more than 10 years.

Among others were Linette Cruz, a senior head nurse at the Brynteg dental practice in Sketty, Swansea. The married mother of one was described by colleagues as a woman who brought “love, light and joy” to everyone she met.

Cruz, who trained in the Philippines and came to the UK several years ago, died on 14 April after being treated for coronavirus in the intensive care unit at Morriston hospital in Swansea.

Elvira Bucu, an NHS care worker and mother of three whose husband was also infected, died on 3 April. Leilani Dayrit, a clinical nurse sister at the hospital of St Cross in Rugby, died of suspected Covid-19 on 7 April.

Members of the community who were not healthcare workers include Arnel Ganias, a courtesy driver at Heathrow airport, and Romeo Castillo Jr, 34. Known to friends as “Romy”, he died after contracting Covid-19 on a work trip to Mauritius, which he had won as a reward for his good work.

Antonio Lagdameo, the Philippine ambassador to the UK, said: “We are are deeply saddened by reports of Filipino staff at the NHS who are either infected by Covid-19 or have succumbed to the disease. Our thoughts are with their loved ones.

“Filipino health workers have served tirelessly and courageously at the frontlines of the war against this pandemic, and their contribution to the ongoing effort to save lives is nothing but immense.

“The escalation of confirmed Covid-19 cases and Covid-19-related deaths point out the undeniable truth that this disease is an existential threat even to the most healthy and fit among us. I urge everyone to follow government advice, stay home and help protect the NHS heroes who put their lives on the line for all of us.”