DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 3 April) – The Department of Health (DOH)-Region 11 recorded eight new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), bringing to 69 the total number of cases in the area as of April 2.
In a report, DOH-11 said Davao City had 57 cases, Davao del Norte six, Davao del Sur two, Davao de Oro one, and Davao Oriental three. Davao Occidental has no reported case yet.
At least 18 patients in the region have recovered while nine others have died from the disease, it said.
Four of the patients who died went to the derby at New Davao Matina Gallera between March 6 and March 13, 2020 where a patient who later tested positive of the virus had gone too. One of the derby-goers who died was 68-year old PH1386, the oldest fatality.
DOH-11 said the oldest patient to recover from the infection is 70-year old PH1812, who has a travel history to Manila. The youngest is 21-year old PH130, the first reported Covid-19 case in Davao Region, who came from the United Kingdom.
Of the patients who recovered, 16 were confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center in Davao City and two in Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum. The two government hospitals are the only medical institutions designated to treat Covid-19 patients in the region.
Rivera said during the virtual presser over PIA-Davao’s Facebook page all recovered patients, at least half of whom had a travel history to Manila, have been discharged from the hospitals.
Dr. Cleo Fe Tabada, head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of DOH-11, said the agency has been doing the “contact tracing” for individuals who came in close contact with the patients.
She said they have been monitoring those individuals who are known to have contacted the infected patients, but admitted they now have patients who acquired the infection through local transmission. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
