BEATING COVID-19. Catarman, Northern Samar Mayor Francisco Rosales Jr. briefs the market vendors on the daily disinfection of their stores at the public market on Sunday (March 22, 2020). The local government of Catarman, Northern Samar is stepping up its contact tracing to find the people who had close contact with the first person in the Eastern Visayas region infected with the coronavirus disease 2019. (Photo courtesy of Catarman local government
TACLOBAN CITY – The local government of Catarman, Northern Samar is stepping up its contact tracing to find people who had close contact with the first person in the Eastern Visayas region infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
The Department of Health’s (DOH) announcement that the first Covid-19 positive is from Catarman has saddened the town but strengthened its resolve to fight the virus, said Mayor Francisco Rosales Jr. in a statement issued Monday night.
“Our personnel from the municipal health office has been conducting contact tracing to identify persons who had close contact with the patient. All of them will be considered as persons under monitoring. They will be closely observed by local health workers and members of the barangay (village) health emergency response teams,” Rosales said.
On Monday, the DOH regional office confirmed that a 51-year-old female from Catarman, Northern Samar is the first confirmed Covid-19 case in Eastern Visayas.
The DOH received the test result from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine on Monday, the same day the patient was supposed to be discharged from the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) after she recovered from mild to severe flu-like symptoms.
The patient went to Japan and arrived in Manila on January 2. She stayed in Greenhills, San Juan for two months. She returned to her hometown in Catarman on March 4 and manifested severe acute respiratory infection symptoms on March 7.
She was admitted to a hospital in Northern Samar on March 10 and was transferred to an isolation room at EVRMC on March 12.
There are at least 16 patients under investigation and 825 persons under monitoring in Catarman, the capital of Northern Samar province.
“We assure the public that we are closely watching these people for them to get care and treatment, and will prevent further transmission of the virus,” Rosales added.
The mayor has called on residents in Catarman to cooperate in their battle against the deadly virus by staying at home, observing social distancing, regular proper hand washing, and following curfew hours. (PNA)
