BACOLOD City – A 43-year-old resident of La Castellana town is the latest confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Negros Occidental.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson confirmed this, saying the male patient who is now in stable condition has a travel history to Iloilo.
He had close contact with his employers – a couple from Pavia, Iloilo – who were found to be positive for the viral disease.
According to La Castellana mayor Rhumyla Mangilimutan, the patient arrived in the town on March 13 from Pavia and has been considered a person under monitoring. He went on home quarantine from March 13 until March 28 and felt no symptoms yet.
On April 5 to 6, symptoms appeared on
the patient with fever and loose bowel movement for two days.
On April 5, his employer in Iloilo was reported to have been tested positive of
COVID-19 and that on April 8, he was informed about the condition of his
employers.
The patient’s test result was released Monday after a swab sample was taken
from him on April 12.
Mangilimutan said the patient and his family in Barangay Nato are now being quarantined.
“Barangay Nato was placed under lockdown, while the border control points of La Castellana and its nearby localities are being secured and control by the law enforcers,” the mayor added.
For his part, Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of the City Inter-agency Task Force against COVID-19, said the City Health Office has conducted contact tracing to the family in Barangay Estefania, where the patient temporarily stayed.
He added that based on the CHO investigation, the patient’s family has not experienced any symptoms until now and they are in good condition. To date, the province’s first COVID-19 case, a 41 year-old female, has recovered and has already been discharged from the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City on April 8./PN
