ILOILO City – This city and Iloilo province have two more residents who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with both appearing to be cases of local transmission. Wary that local transmissions could progress to a sustained community transmission, Mayor Jerry Treñas called for stepped up testing.
As of yesterday, this city has 54 patients under investigation (PUIs) for COVID-19 and 2,389 persons under monitoring (PUMs).
“Seguraduhon ta kon positive or indi,” the city mayor told city hall reporters.
The two new COVID-19 cases brought Western Visayas’ tally to 18.
“I am very sorry nga kun kis-a gapangakig ako. But you know this is not the time for us to be complacent,” said Treñas.
COVID-19 test kits are available already, he stressed.
The World Health Organization (WHO) continues to recommend that testing, isolating and treating every suspected case, and tracing every contact, must be the backbone of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in every country.
Western Visayas’ 17th positive case – and this city’s third case – is a 44-year-old male from Jaro district.
Patient No. 17’s condition is improving although he remains in isolation, according to Dr. Jane Juanico, Department of Health (DOH) Region 6’s focal person for COVID-19.
He had a history of exposure to Iloilo City’s first COVID-19 case (from Mandurriao district, the region’s Patient No. 3). They were together in a convention, said Juanico.
Three of Patient No. 3’s close contacts have been traced already for quarantine, added Juanico.
On the other hand, the region’s Patient No. 18 is a 51-year-old female from Guimbal, Iloilo – a househelp of the region’s Patient No. 2 (the 59-year-old male from Guimbal with a history of exposure to relatives from Japan and Canada).
Patient No. 18 is asymptomatic (not showing COVID-19 symptoms), said Juanico, and currently on home quarantine. She is the fifth confirmed COVID-19-positive case in Iloilo province.
According to Treñas, DOH-6 delegated the task of taking specimens to the City Health Office.
The specimens would be analyzed at the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district.
“We are very lucky may ara kita laboratory and test kits. So ang pwede ta ma-swab, i-swab ta na,” said Treñas.
Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Aklan remain at three; still one in Capiz; one in Negros Occidental; and five in Bacolod City.
The provinces of Antique and Guimaras have no confirmed case yet as this was being written.
Juanico earlier
said Western Visayas has 5,000 test kits from the DOH central office. Each kit
can test 22 specimens for a total of 110,000 for the whole region.
WVMC can test a maximum of 44 specimens per day, said Juanico.
The city government has also ordered 2,500 test kits from South Korea. Treñas
said these will be arriving on Apri l 4.
Of the region’s 18 positive cases, two already expired – the 72-year-old Patient No. 11 from Iloilo City and the 70-year-old Patient No. 16 from Lambunao, Iloilo.
One has recovered (the 56-year-old Patient No. 1 from Bacolod City) while one remains in critical condition (the 40-year-old Patient No. 7 from Bacolod City).
The rest were “admitted and stable” or “improved and isolated”, said Juanico.
Region-wide as of 12 noon of March 29, DOH-6 recorded 370 PUIs of which 135 tested negative; 102 have also been discharged while 103 remain in hospitals.
A total of 28,734 out of 45,388 PUMs in the region completed their 14-day quarantine.
PUIs are persons showing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, dry cough, difficulty breathing, and tiredness, among others).
PUMs, on the other hand are persons with a history of travel to areas with confirmed COVID-19 cases but not showing symptoms.
According to WHO, some people with COVID-19 may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat or diarrhea.
WHO said these symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually, and that 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, said WHO./PN
