Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., chief of the South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office. (PNA GenSan file photo)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – A patient under investigation (PUI) for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has died in Koronadal City after experiencing severe acute respiratory illness (Sari), a health official confirmed on Friday.
Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., chief of the South Cotabato Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), said the patient succumbed to symptoms of the disease on Tuesday, a day after the latter's specimen was taken for testing.
Aturdido said the swab samples taken from the deceased PUI were earlier sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) for laboratory confirmation.
“We can’t say yet when the result will be released so this is not yet a confirmed Covid-19 case,” he said in a press briefing at the Provincial Capitol in Koronadal City.
Aturdido said the case of the patient who was diagnosed with Sari was referred to him by a pulmonologist on March 15.
He said they assessed the PUI’s status and decided the following day, on March 16, to have the patient tested for Covid-19 but the latter expired on March 17 while undergoing treatment.
Based on the Covid-19 algorithm issued on March 18 by the Department of Health (DOH), the deceased was considered a PUI due to the Sari diagnosis, Aturdido said, adding that they are still determining whether the deceased patient had a history of travel and exposure to confirmed Covid-19 cases.
“If that is not the case and the test result will turn out positive, then there is the probability that Covid-19 is already in the community,” he said.
The case was the second death reported in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) involving a PUI.
An 87-year-old patient suspected of having Covid-19 died in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat last March 14 while awaiting laboratory confirmation.
Although there has been no laboratory-confirmed case yet for Covid-19 in the area, Aturdido urged residents to stay home and practice the necessary preventive measures.
The provincial government, through Executive Order 18 issued by Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. on Friday, placed the entire province under an enhanced community quarantine and calibrated total lockdown for 14 days starting midnight to contain the spread of the disease.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, the IPHO’s epidemiology and surveillance unit reported that 1,813 persons under monitoring (PUMs) for the disease are undergoing mandatory home quarantine in parts of the province.
It said some 353 PUMs have completed the 14-day observation protocol and are considered cleared.
As for the PUIs, 13 persons with “severe symptoms” were admitted to various hospitals while nine were listed as discharged.
The laboratory-confirmed negative cases remained at five while the results of 17 others, including the lone reported mortality, are still pending.
Aturdido said all laboratory samples from the province were sent to the RITM based in Muntinlupa City and the release of the results could take some time due to the volume of cases being handled there.
However, he said personnel of DOH 11 (Davao region) recently informed them that the satellite testing facility of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City is ready to accept samples for laboratory confirmation.
He said they have coordinated with the epidemiology and surveillance unit of DOH-12 regarding the endorsement of samples to SPMC. (PNA)
