ILOILO – The municipality of Cabatuan has recorded its first case of local coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission.
Asymptomatic, the 53-year-old-female patient was being isolated at the town’s quarantine facility.
A balikbayan, she underwent reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test at the Qualimed Hospital Molecular Laboratory in Mandurriao, Iloilo City – one of the requirements so she could go back to the United States of America.
The test result was released on July 29, said Mayor Ronilo Caspe of Cabatuan.
From the US, the patient went home to Cabatuan in December 2019 for her holiday break.
In January, however, the COVID-19 pandemic started spreading throughout the world from China. The patient got stuck in Cabatuan.
On July 17, the patient secured a medical certificate from the Rural Health Unit of Cabatuan and a travel authority from the Cabatuan police station. She was intent on returning to the US.
On July 25, she underwent RT-PCR COVID test, one of her travel requirements.
The result came out on July 29, the day she was scheduled to fly to Manila for her flight back to the US.
This case was puzzling, according to Caspe. The patient had no exposure to anyone with COVID-19, he said, and she had not traveled outside Western Visayas since returning in December 2019.
Contact tracing was immediately launched by the Municipal Health Office. As of yesterday afternoon, tracers have reached out to six persons.
These close contacts of the patient were ordered to observe home quarantine.
Today, they would be undergoing RT-PCR test.
As of July 29, Cabatuan had eight confirmed COVID-19 cases. Except for the 53-year-old-female patient, the rest were locally stranded individual.
All the seven patients already recovered, said Caspe. These were the following:
* 53-year-old-female
* 25-year-old male
* 47-year-old female
* 23-year-old male
* 23-year-old female
* seven-year-old male
* 27-year-old female
* 28-year-old male
Caspe urged his constituents to continue observing public health safety protocols – wearing of facemask, physical distancing, and proper hand washing.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth./PN
