COVID-19 CHECK. Local health workers conduct rapid antibody testing on a locally stranded individual who returned to Gandara town in Samar. The Department of Health on Thursday (July 9, 2020) reported three new Covid-19 cases and five new recoveries in Eastern Visayas. (Photo courtesy of Gandara Rural Health Unit)
TACLOBAN CITY – Three more residents of Eastern Visayas have tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), bringing the region’s total to 614.
In a report issued Thursday night, Department of Health (DOH) 8 (Eastern Visayas) Director Minerva Molon said all three were locally stranded individuals (LSI) who came from Cebu.
They are a 28-year-old man from La Paz, Leyte; a 21-year-old man from Mahaplag, Leyte; and a 24-year-old man from Libagon town in Southern Leyte.
They will be tagged as the region’s Patient Nos. 612 to 614, according to Molon.
“The patients are confined in their respective local isolation facilities for monitoring and treatment but will be transferred to a higher health care facility if further management is needed,” she added.
The newly reported cases were part of the 476 swab results from the region’s two Covid-19 testing centers, of which eight turned positive, including the repeat test of five coronavirus patients from Leyte.
The regional health office also reported that five more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the region’s total recoveries to 498 or 81.11 percent of the total confirmed cases.
Most of the confirmed cases in the regions were returning residents – 397 were LSIs, 53 are overseas Filipino workers, and three were beneficiaries of the “Balik Probinsya, Balik Pag-asa” program beneficiaries.
The remaining 161 were locally acquired cases, based on the DOH monitoring report.
“More than 90 percent here are asymptomatic and managed in community isolation facilities. We have prevented the community transmission of the virus since returnees were immediately isolated upon arrival,” Molon said.
To date, the region has 113 active coronavirus cases and three deaths from Leyte, Biliran, and Samar. (PNA)
