MORE COVID-19 POSITIVE FISHERS. Nine more fishermen under quarantine at a patient care center in Dumaguete City test positive of Covid-19 as of Sunday night (May 31, 2020). A total of 171 fishermen arrived in Negros Oriental last May 17 from a fishing expedition in Palawan and were under quarantine since May 21. (File photo by Judy Flores Partlow)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Nine more fishermen under quarantine at a patient care center (PCC) here were found positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
This brings to 11 the number of afflicted from the total 171 fishermen who were quarantined since May 21 after they disembarked from the fishing vessel, Phillip D.R.
The fishers went to a fishing expedition in Palawan before coming to Negros Oriental.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Liland Estacion, who is also the chair/spokesperson of the health committee of the provincial Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, made the announcement in a press briefing here Monday afternoon.
She said another batch of test results arrived Sunday evening, while more are expected to arrive soon from Cebu City, where the throat swab samples of these fishermen were sent for Covid-19 testing.
Of the nine new cases, three are from La Libertad, two from Tanjay City, two from Bindoy, and one from Sibulan, all in Negros Oriental; and one from Santander, Cebu, Estacion said.
The two other cases were one each from Ayungon and Samboan towns in Cebu.
Dr. Estacion said that 91 fishermen had tested negative of the coronavirus while there are 62 more pending throat swab test results.
The nine new cases have been transferred to another PCC here but not at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) as they are asymptomatic, she said.
They will only be transferred to the provincial hospital when they exhibit flu-like symptoms to avoid unnecessarily filling up the Covid-19 isolation ward, she added.
Meanwhile, Estacion reiterated that the cases are not locally-acquired as the fishermen are believed to have contracted the coronavirus somewhere prior to their arrival in the province.
She reassured the public of a low-risk community transmission as protocols were strictly followed since the arrival of the fishermen here and security measures have been in place at the PCC where they are staying.
A total of 171 fishermen disembarked in Negros Oriental last May 21, with the majority from Negros Oriental, and some from Cebu and one from Negros Occidental.
Of the total, seven are under quarantine at a PCC in San Jose, Negros Oriental while the rest were brought to the government-designated PCC in this capital city.
At present, 25 of them were also diagnosed with tuberculosis, and a number of them with heart ailment, Estacion said. (PNA)
