ILOILO – A 23-year-old female resident of the municipality of Pavia tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bring to 147 the number of cases in Western Visayas yesterday.
Patient No. 147, who went to Cebu on Jan. 5, got stranded there until May 30 due to the community quarantine, according to the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6.
She returned to Iloilo on May 31 and was immediately placed in the town’s quarantine facility as part of the public health safety protocol.
“Paggwa kaina sang iya test result, gin-transfer sia sa Western Visayas Sanitarium. Considered sia as symptomatic kay nagakatol ang tutunlan,” said Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, medical coordinator for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases of DOH-6.
Western Visayas Sanitarium is in Santa Barbara town.
Specimen for testing was extracted from the young woman by the Municipal Health Office of Pavia just this June 8. It was analyzed at the Western Visayas Medical Center sub-national laboratory in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.
COVID-19 is the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus. This new virus and disease were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan City, China in December 2019.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the provincial government is aligned with the national direction to treat locally stranded individuals (LSIs) like the Pavia woman similar to repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“What we are ensuring is for the LSIs and the OFWs to be consolidated and organized for them to go home batch by batch,” Defensor said.
He, however, said the provincial government should receive a notice at least five hours before the arrival of returning Ilonggos.
Preparations by both the provincial government and the local government units will prevent returning Ilonggos from going home directly to their families; they must first undergo quarantine and testing.
Here’s the breakdown of the region’s 147 COVID-19 cases:
* Aklan – six
* Antique – 14
* Capiz – six
* Guimaras – zero
* Iloilo province – 21
* Negros Occidental – three
* Bacolod City – 11
* Iloilo City – 19
* Repatriates – 67
According to the DOH-6, of these cases, 101 already recovered while 11 died, leaving the region with 35 active cases.
The latest to recover was a 34-year-old male from Alimodian, Iloilo (Patient No. 103), said Te./PN
