By Glazyl Masculino
BACOLOD CITY - The first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patient reported here has been tested negative based on the results of his repeated swab test.
This was confirmed by Dr. Grace Tan, spokesperson of the Bacolod Inter-agency Task Force against COVID-19, who said that the patient has already recovered from the dreaded disease.
The patient is a 56-year-old Filipino male with travel history to London, and arrived here on February 29. He was admitted at Riverside Medical Center Inc. (RMCI) here on March 6.
Meanwhile, the RMCI, in a statement dated March 30, also shared the good news through their official Facebook page.
RMCI President and Chief Executive Officer Genesis Goldi Golingan, in a statement, said that “it is with a grateful heart that the re-test of our first COVID-19 patient has returned negative. This means that the patient has recovered from his COVID infection and is no longer infectious.”
Golingan said that they considered it as a good sign that they are capable of winning against the unseen menace. They are also looking towards the recovery of the other patients.
As RMCI continued its daily battle against COVID-19, they appealed to the public to stay at home, observe good hand hygiene, and practice social distance.
The management of the private health institution thanked the “heroic” frontliners for courageously taking necessary risks to save everyone.
They also expressed their gratitude to the doctors for utilizing their skills, resources, and connections, all in a joint effort to keep everyone in the fight.
They also thanked the donors, the local government, and the public for their continued support.
The city has remaining four COVID-19 patients, who are all isolated in a hospital here.