FIRST FOR GUIMARAS. Guimaras province breaks its Covid-19-free record with one confirmed case from Buenavista town on Tuesday (July 28, 2020). The Western Visayas region now has 1,158 infections – 513 are still active, 629 have recovered, and 16 have died. (Photo courtesy Province of Guimaras FB Page)
ILOILO CITY – A local case, a first for the province of Guimaras, was among the 17 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases reported in the Western Visayas region on Tuesday.
The detection of the local case, a 22-year-old male resident of Buenavista town, broke the record of Guimaras as the only Covid-19-free province in the region.
“This is the first time that a case was reported from the province of Guimaras,” Dr. Jessie Glen Alonsabe, epidemiologist of the Department of Health’s Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) 6 (Western Visayas), said in a virtual presser.
Alonsabe said the patient is currently confined in a private hospital in Iloilo City, where he works as a service crew in a fast-food chain.
In an interview with Buenavista Mayor Eugene Reyes on Wednesday, he said based on their contact tracing, they learned that the patient went home to Guimaras on July 13 to secure a medical certificate.
The next day, he returned to Iloilo City where he stays in a boarding house together with his live-in partner.
The Covid-19 patient suffered from loose bowel movement and fever last July 24 and he opted to get admitted to a private hospital.
A specimen was taken on July 25 and the result came out on July 28.
Mayor Reyes said all his co-passengers in the motorboat were traced but if the date was on July 13, then the required 14 quarantine days have lapsed.
However, five members of the patient’s family back in Guimaras were placed under quarantine after his mother was reported to have vomited on Tuesday night.
“We are fast-tracking the conduct (of a) swab test so we can have a faster result,” he said, adding that their residents have nothing to worry about because the local government is doing its best to address the issue.
The 17 new infections brought the region’s total cases to 1,158, with 513 active cases, 629 recoveries, and 16 deaths.
No recovery and death were recorded on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, aside from the case in Guimaras, the other 16 confirmed cases were six local cases from Iloilo City; one local case, one returning overseas Filipino worker (ROF), and two locally stranded individuals (LSI) from Iloilo province; two ROFs from Capiz; one LSI from Antique; two LSIs from Negros Occidental; and one local case from Bacolod City.
Of the 16 other cases, three are confined; two are in home quarantine, and the rest are staying in a facility.
The DOH-CHD-6 released a total of 1,835 laboratory results on Tuesday.
Ten of the 1,303 results from the Western Visayas Medical Center sub-national laboratory were positive, along with three out of 305 results from the Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital Molecular Laboratory; and four out of the 124 results of the Qualimed Hospital Molecular Laboratory.
There were no confirmed Covid-19 cases from the 103 results coming from the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital Molecular Laboratory. (PNA)
