By Jerry Alcayde
CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – The baby patient, the first confirmed case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the province and the youngest in the country, will be put under a 14-day home quarantine after she was discharged from the hospital last Friday as part of a health protocol for COVID patients.
Oriental Mindoro Governor Humerlito A. Dolor said "Baby Patient", as she was fondly called by netizens, has already recovered from pneumonia and other respiratory ailments, including dengue.
Dolor thanked the doctor and the medical personnel of a private hospital in Calapan for effectively managing the health anomaly of the one-year-and-nine-month-old child who was previously tested positive with COVID-19, but who later yielded a negative result in her second laboratory test.
Dolor was elated upon learning of the good news from Dr. Alex de Guzman, the baby patient’s attending physician whose identity was withheld from the public during the confinement of the child at the hospital for legal and privacy considerations.
“She is for discharge today (Friday), home meds orally given, recommended 14 days quarantine in their house,” Gov. Dolor quoted the doctor in text messages to him.
The Center for Health Development of DOH MIMAROPA (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) said the child, who was logged as Patient 14, had travel history in Muntinlupa before the Luzon-wide lockdown was imposed on March 17.
Dolor said that baby patient’s specimen will still be subjected to a third laboratory test at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in compliance with a Department of Health’s protocol.
The governor also announced that the DOH Regional Director, Dr. Mario S. Baquilod has informed him that five patients under investigation (PUIs), whose age ranged from 82 to 10 years-old and, whose specimen were submitted to RITM in Manila., all yielded negative results from COVID-19.
“To God be the glory,” the excited Gov. Dolor said in his social media account a few minutes after he talked with Dr. De Guzman.
Meanwhile, Baquilod has thanked the Filipino community in New Zealand for donating 500 pieces of face shields which will be distributed to health frontliners in the region.
Over-all, there are eight remaining confirmed case of COVID-19 in the region with Marinduque having four COVID-19 positive cases; Occidental Mindoro, 2 and one each for Romblon and Palawan.