ILOILO City – Health authorities are bent on tracking all persons who have close contact with the 61-year-old woman from Mandurriao district who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The woman, currently confined in isolation at The Medical City in Molo district, is the first COVID-19 case in the city and one of the four positive cases in Western Visayas.
Aside from contract tracing, a sanitation team was also deployed to the barangay where the patient resided, according to Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, Iloilo City focal person on COVID-19.
He declined to specifically name the barangay.
“Basi mag-panic ang mga tawo kag ang iban nga dapat madala sa contact tracing indi na ma-locate,” explained Fortuna yesterday.
He assured city residents that safety protocols were being followed.
“Close contacts” are those providing direct care with the positive patient without personal protective equipment, those staying in the same closed environment with the positive patient, and those travelling in close proximity (one meter or less) with the patient in any kind of conveyance within the 14-day period after the onset of symptoms.
Doing the contract tracing is a team composed of representatives from the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 and City Health Office of the city government, according to Dr. Jane Juanico, DOH-6’s focal person for COVID-19.
None of the patient’s immediate family members were manifesting flu-like symptoms, said Fortuna.
The patient, on the other hand, was in stable condition at The Medical City where Western Visayas’ second COVID-19 case was also confined – a 65-year-old man from Guimbal, Iloilo.
The two other cases were a man from Bacolod City (first confirmed case in the region) and a man from Jamindan, Capiz.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea.
These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but don’t develop any symptoms and don’t feel unwell.
Most people (about 80 percent) recover from the disease without needing special treatment, according to WHO. Around one out of every six people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing.
Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness.
With DOH-6 having already identified Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district as COVID 19-dedicated hospital, will the two patients at The Medical City be transferred to the former?
Juanico said the two patients will continue to be managed at The Medical City until they are discharged.
On the other hand, she said, the target date for transfer to WVMC of severe cases of PUIs from other hospitals is March 30.
WVMC has allocated 450 beds for confirmed COVID-19 cases, said Juanico.
Aside from confirmed cases, WVMC will also accommodate persons under investigation (PUI) with severe signs and symptoms, PUI with mild signs and symptoms, elderly (with or without co-morbidities), non-elderly (with uncontrolled co-morbidities), and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) patients from Region 6.
On the other hand, West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSU-MC) has been designated as dedicated non-COVID facility for service patients.
But it may also be designated as a COVID hospital in case of an overflow of COVID-19 cases at the WVMC, said Juanico.
WVMC shall first transfer the first 200 non-COVID-19 cases to WVSU-MC to accommodate the all confirmed COVID-19 cases and those PUI and SARI cases that they should cater.
It will gradually free-up its patient bed capacities to reach the 450-bed capacity for COVID-19 cases.
WVSU-MC, among others, will allocate a total of 212 beds for non-COVID-19 cases from WVMC.
The Western Visayas Sanitarium in Santa Barbara, Iloilo has been identified as dedicated facility for all PUIs (with mild signs and symptoms) and non-elderly with controlled co-morbidities./PN
Why medical technologist are not mentioned as front liners when they are directly facing or handling the Corina virus in the lab.
what is the use of of contact tracing kun wala kamo test kit? ang inyo gina himo puro pasalig lang sa mga tawo nga you are doing your job but actually you are not. abi eh budgeti ninyo ang test kits para mabalan naton ang kamatuoran kun ano gid ni bala ka lala ang problema sang covid 19 sa iloilo.