KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews / 23 May) — A male resident here who tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a six-cock derby at the New Davao Matina Gallera in Davao City two months ago was discharged from the quarantine facility at 5 p.m. on Friday after a 55-day stay.
PH3989 was discharged after the results of his swab test showed he had tested negative of COVID-19, according to the local Inter-Agency Task Force.
He was admitted at the city’s isolation facility on March 28, tested positive for COVID-19 and tested positive again on his second test.
On May 5, he underwent his third swab test but it took weeks before the results were released.
In a telephone interview, PH3989 said the delay in the release made him anxious and depressed.
He narrated that on his 47th day at the quarantine center, he staged a hunger strike to pressure authorities to follow-up his results at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City.
“What kept me going was my family who would always give me encouragement to go on. Also, by putting my trust on God, that made me survive,” he said.
“Staying in a facility with no one to talk to made me felt I was locked inside a jail,” he recalled.
It took 17 days for SPMC to release his results, he said.
He was told that his specimen was among the many specimens taken on May 5.
“At that time, there was a mass COVID-19 testing in Davao City, so, most probably, my specimen was included among those files, that’s why there was some sort of a delay,” he said.
On May 21, on request of North Cotabato Governor Nancy Catamco, he underwent another swab test, which was immediately forwarded to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City.
Since May 20, the CRMC is now a sub-national laboratory for COVID-19 testing which can handle 72 specimens on a 12-hour daily operation of their two machines.
“We will be using the Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2, an FDA-approved RT-PCR testing kit, an acceptable confirmatory testing for SARS-CoV-2,” Dr. Helen Yambao, CRMC Chief of Hospital, said.
PH3989 said he was told that it will take four to days before CRMC releases its results. The CRMC had earlier said results are available within 24 hours from receipt of the specimen.
“I am hopeful I will still be negative of COVID-19, so, I can continue with my life,” he explained.
After his release from the facility on Friday, PH3989 will still undergo a 14-day mandatory home quarantine. (Malu Cadelina-Manar / MindaNews)