PALO, Leyte — Three more people in Leyte province have been confined Tuesday night for showing symptoms of the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD).
The Department of Health (DOH) isolated a 26-year-old mother, her seven-month-old child, and the mother’s 26-year-old sister-in-law after manifesting flu-like symptoms.
The three arrived in Tacloban on Jan. 29 after their holiday trip in Macao to visit relatives there.
The child has experienced unproductive cough while the mother and her sister-in-law both developed a mild cough. This prompted them to seek medical attention at a private hospital in the city on Tuesday. Private physicians referred them to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC).
“The increase in the number of patients under investigation (PUI) in the region is due the pro-active surveillance system of the region and increase of health-seeking behavior of the public with regards of the 2019-nCoV ARD,” said DOH Region 8 medical officer Carmen Garado.
Earlier, the DOH isolated two PUIs at the EVRMC. One is a 55-year-old man from Leyte with travel history in Israel and made a stop in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China. He arrived in this city on Jan. 25 and developed a fever on Feb. 2. He is known to have colon cancer.
Another PUI is a 22-year-old woman, a native of Samar province, with a travel history in Hong Kong on Dec. 23, 2019 and arrived in Manila last Jan. 4.
There are still seven others categorized as persons under monitoring for having close contact with suspected carriers of the 2019-nCoV ARD.
Persons under monitoring are asked to check their body temperature regularly and watch for flu-like symptoms. A health worker is assigned to make regular calls with them.
Meanwhile, the DOH discharged on Wednesday the second PUI found negative of the highly-contagious illness, said regional epidemiology and surveillance unit head Marc Steven Capungcol.
The Department of Health (DOH) regional office here announced on Wednesday that two samples taken from a 30-year-old woman from Leyte, the region’s second PUI were negative of the virus.
The patient, who was isolated at the EVRMC for five days, recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong and Macao.
“Health workers discharged her from EVRMC Wednesday afternoon. She is the second PUI in the region released from isolation,” Capungcol said.
The first was an American male who worked in Wuhan City in China. He came to Tacloban last month to visit his girlfriend and daughter. The hospital discharged him on Feb. 1. (PNA)
