DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 March) – The first confirmed COVID-19 patient in the Davao region (Region 11) has been recovering well and is now in stable condition at the Davao Regional Medical Center (DRMC) in Tagum City, a health official said Monday.
This developed as family members of the 21-year-old Filipina patient, tagged as PH130 or Patient 130, have been placed in a 14-day home quarantine, according to Dr. Annabelle Yumang, Department of Health- Region 11 (DOH-11) director.
PH130 is a resident of Pantukan, Davao de Oro who travelled from the United Kingdom to Manila with a layover in Doha, Qatar, then from Manila to Davao last February 29 via Philippine Airlines (PAL).
She is the first confirmed COVID-19 case in the Davao region and the second in Mindanao.
Mindanao’s first COVID-19 case, Patient 40, a 54-year old male from Lanao del Sur who moved to Metro Manila for refuge during the 2017 Marawi Siege and who recently returned, was admitted at the Adventist Medical Center in Iligan City on March 3 and transferred to the NMMC in Cagayan de Oro City on March 8. He passed away on Friday evening, March 13.
PH130 was placed in isolation on March 9 at a local health facility after seeking consultation due to cough. The following day, she was transferred and admitted for isolation and testing to the DRMC in Tagum City.
Dr. Bryan Dalid, DRMC chief of hospital, said the patient only suffered a minor COVID-19 infection and is now in a stable condition.
“Nag-improve iyang condition (Her condition has improved) since the time she was admitted. Nawala iyang ubo, sipon, kalintura (Her cough, colds and fever are gone),” he added.
Dalid said the patient would be subjected to another nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal tests to determine if she is already cleared of COVID-19.
Her swab samples will be tested by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Manila, he added.
Dalid said the patient would be discharged if both tests would turn out negative.
Dr. Cleo Fe Tabada, head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the DOH-11, said they already conducted contact tracing with PH130’s relatives and friends with whom she had interaction, as well as in the places that she visited in the province prior to her hospital confinement.
She said the Bureau of Quarantine had also contacted the PAL management for the manifesto of Manila-Davao Flight PR2815 taken by PH130 at 12:30 p.m. on February 29.
Tabada urged the passengers of that PAL flight to immediately report to the health centers if they manifest symptoms of the coronavirus disease.
The DOH-11 has listed 50 persons under investigation in the region. Twenty-nine had been discharged while 21 are currently confined at the DRMC and at the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City.
