'Hatid probinsya' beneficiary in Davao Oriental tests positive for COVID-19
By Armando Fenequito Jr.
DAVAO CITY – A returning overseas Filipino worker (OFW), who was a recipient of the government’s “Hatid Probinsya” program, was the latest coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case in Davao Oriental.
This was confirmed by the Davao Oriental Provincial Task Force on COVID-19 in a statement released on Wednesday.
The confirmation came after they after received an official report from the Southern Philippines Medical Center’s (SPCM) subnational laboratory and the Department of Health Region (DOH) 11 on Tuesday evening that the latest positive patient was a 36-year-old male, and a resident of the municipality of Caraga in Davao Oriental. He arrived in the province on May 29, via sweeper flight through the “Hatid Probinsya” program.
The report stated that the patient was fetched by the Davao Oriental provincial government at the Davao International Airport in Davao City, and directly brought to the quarantine facility of the municipality of Caraga for isolation.
As part of standard protocol, the patient underwent for re-swab test despite getting a negative results from a real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in Manila.
The task force said all four direct contacts he had when he arrived in Davao, including the driver and health workers donned complete Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) during the transport and swabbing, will also undergo testing.
It said the patient was asymptomatic and under strict isolation.