KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews 10 Mar) – A patient under investigation (PUI) for COVID-19 here who was immediately transferred to the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City tested negative for the virus, Mayor Joseph Evangelista said in an official statement issued to media on Tuesday.
Evangelista said the PUI had travel history to Hong Kong, one of the administrative regions of China.
The PUI, he added, was among the 23 persons under monitoring (PUMs) by the City Health Office because of their recent travels to countries in Asia with recorded COVID-19 cases.
Of the 23 PUMs, he said, 16 have completed the 14-day mandatory self-quarantine without manifesting any flu-like symptoms, while six have yet to complete their isolation.
Evangelista said that when health staff of the CHO detects flu-like symptoms from one of the PUMs, such person is immediately declared “under investigation” and transferred to an isolation facility at the CRMC in Cotabato City.
The PUI was transported to the CRMC using an ambulance the Kidapawan Call 911 has designated for COVID-19 cases.
The driver and the personnel of Call 911 are equipped with protective gears approved by the Department of Health (DoH).
The mayor said the ambulance, including the driver and the Call 911 crew, were immediately disinfected after the transport.
Upon confinement, samples were taken from the PUI and sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and to Australia for verification. Results from both agencies tested negative for COVID-19, reports showed.
The PUI, according to Evangelista, is recovering well and is ready to be discharged from the hospital anytime. (Malu Cadelina Manar / MindaNews)