BACOLOD CITY – A 56-year-old man here has tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection, becoming the first confirmed case in Bacolod and Western Visayas.
In a press conference Friday night, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said he received the confirmation from the Department of Health (DOH)-Western Visayas regional director Marlyn Convocar.
“According to her, the patient is stable, recovering, and in complete isolation in a hospital in Bacolod,” the mayor said.
Leonardia said the patient had traveled to London in England and arrived home on February 29.
After the onset of his illness on March 2, he experienced sore throat and difficulty in breathing, and four days later on March 6, he was admitted to a hospital.
On March 13, his swab samples were taken and sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Metro Manila on the same day. The result was released seven days after.
“I have ordered the City Health Office (CHO) to conduct immediately an intensive contract tracing,” the mayor said.
He added that having recorded the first positive case, Bacolod should be more stringent in the implementation of the general community quarantine.
“We should be stricter with the imposition of the curfew. We should be stricter with our border check-up points. I emphasize that, so our friends and people from outside Bacolod will know that. We are strongly discouraging them from coming here,” Leonardia said.
In Bacolod, curfew hours are enforced from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., and non-essential entry of persons into or exit out of Bacolod is restricted.
The mayor appealed to Bacolod residents to maintain social distancing.
“That is fundamental, and we should keep washing our hands. She (Convocar) also told us that the only way we can fight this, is if we all cooperate and observe all these hygienic practices," he added.
As of Friday, records of the CHO showed that there are 11 patients under investigation (PUIs) admitted in various hospitals in Bacolod. These include seven males and four females. Five of them are new admissions.
“All these patients are in stable condition,” said Dr. Grace Tan, spokesperson of the City Inter-Agency Task Force Covid-19.
There are also 1,123 persons under monitoring (PUMs) in the city.
“They are being monitored by the Barangay Health Emergency Response Teams,” Tan added.
Based on the tests on previous PUIs, the CHO has received 13 negative results and recorded only one positive case. (PNA)