By Ali Macabalang
COTABATO CITY – The number of persons under investigation (PUIs) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM’s) dropped by 61 percent from 254 to 100, the region’s Ministry of Health (MoH) announced Tuesday.
Dr. Saffrullah Dipatuan, MoH minister and co-chair of the BARMM inter-agency task force (IATF), was ecstatic about the sharp decrease in the number of PUIs in just one day during his virtual press briefing here Tuesday morning.
The number of BARMM-IATF’s recorded PUIs was 254 on April 6, and the figure dropped to 100 the following day, Dipatuan said, citing the focused interventions of health workers and public cooperation.
Of the 254 PUI cases, he said, only 100 were still awaiting the results of their tests for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with 136 already finished with their respective home quarantine and were found asymptomatic already, while 18 others have already recovered and have been discharged.
BARMM covers Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur (incuding Marawi City), Basilan (including Lamitan City), Tawi-Tawi and Sulu provinces, Cotabato City and 63 bararangays in North Cotabato.
Across BARMM, Dipatuan said, eight persons have tested positive for COVID-19. Of the eight cases, there were three fatalities, three recoveries, and two ongoing cases from Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao and in Marawi City, he said.
The regional IATF has formulated a contingency plan in preparation for the worst-case scenario in the fight against COVID-19, according to task force spokesman and BARMM Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Asnin Pendatun.
Pendatun did not give details about the contingency plan, saying only that it will be implemented once the indicators on PUIs and PUMs spiked to higher proportion.