NO CONFIRMED COVID-19. Western Visayas still has no confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). As of Thursday (March 19, 2020) since January 1, 2020, the region has 120 PUIs, Dr. Jane Juanico (right), head of the Infectious Disease Cluster of the DOH-Western Visayas, said. (PNA file photo by Perla G. Lena)
ILOILO CITY – Western Visayas has no confirmed case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as of Thursday.
However, Dr. Jane Juanico, head of the infectious disease section of the Department of Health–Center for Health Development Western Visayas (DOH-CHD 6), said they could not say that the region is still free from the virus because a lot of Ilonggos have already arrived from places where there are confirmed Covid-19 cases.
“We do not know if some have mild symptoms but we can say that as of today we have no confirmed case,” she said in a phone interview.
Specimens taken from patients under investigation (PUIs) in the region are still being sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila using transportation made available by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
As of Thursday morning, since January 1, 2020, Western Visayas has 120 PUIs. Of the PUIs, 61 are admitted, 11 outpatient and 47 were discharged from the hospital. No information available yet on the newest case was reported.
Moreover, the region has 18,622 persons under monitoring (PUMs) composed of 2,987 from Aklan; Antique, 2,806; Capiz, 2,675; Guimaras, 371; Iloilo Province, 4,610; Negros Occidental, 3,195; Bacolod City, 881 and Iloilo City, 1,097.
Juanico said currently there are five sub-national laboratories for Covid-19 in the country and none in Western Visayas.
She said they are waiting for the approval of the accreditation of a DOH-facility in Western Visayas and be certified as sub-national laboratory. A self-assessment was already conducted in February this year.
They already have facilities that can test the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which are closest to the Covid-19, so they got faster accreditation from the DOH central office, she added.
“Our facility here in Western Visayas is a sub-national laboratory for dengue. The approval is only for blood-borne diseases like dengue and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus),” Juanico said.
On the other hand, as cases of PUIs increase in the region, Juanico said their personal protective equipment (PPE), and thousands of N95 masks and surgical masks have been distributed to referral hospitals that were identified by the provincial governments in the region since February.
The challenge, she said is the transportation of additional logistics from central office, which they are trying to address by closely coordinating for a government aircraft.
Some hospitals, at some point, have to improvise just to get protection, she said.
She added that the Departments of Health; of Science and Technology; and of Trade and Industry were designated to create “technical specifications” to “recommend at least the most appropriate materials” for those who are producing improvised face masks.
The recommendation will be forwarded to the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (PNA)
