Canadian negative for nCoV, 3 more persons quarantined in Negros Occidental
By Glazyl Masculino
BACOLOD CITY – A Canadian national, who was earlier quarantined in a hospital here for suspected infection of novel Corona Virus (nCoV) in Negros Occidental, tested negative for nCoV based on the test result of his swab sample from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).
This was confirmed on Wednesday by Dr. Grace Tan, spokesperson of Bacolod Inter-agency Task Force against nCoV.
Tan said the foreigner was scheduled to be discharged from the hospital Wednesday. She added that they were still waiting for the results of the samples taken from a 12-year-old boy who was also quarantined for the same suspicion.
READ MORE: Canadian, Filipino boy quarantined for suspected nCov in Negros Occidental
As this developed, Tan said that three more persons, including a foreigner, were considered persons under investigation (PUIs) in the province after exhibiting flu-like symptoms, following their travel to Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Tan said that these persons were a 58-year-old Filipina, another Filipino in his 30s, and a 67-year-old male foreigner.
Tan said the foreigner had a layover in Taiwan before he went home to the province last January 21 while the two Filipinos came from Hong Kong.
As of Wednesday, Tan said that four PUIs are now being monitored in the hospital, pending the results of their samples from RITM.
Meanwhile, five students in Talisay City were also placed under quarantine, and considered persons under monitoring (PUMs) after they reportedly traveled to China in the past 14 days.
Despite the increasing number of PUIs in the province, authorities stressed that the province was still free from nCoV.
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, in a press briefing, said that the test result of the Canadian was a big relief to Negrenses.
He appealed for the cooperation of the community especially those who have traveled to China, Macau, and Hongkong, where there are positive cases of nCoV.
“If you have traveled to these places, go on self-quarantine. If you exhibit flu-like symptoms, go to the nearest hospital,” the governor said.
“Let us not hide anything to address this health problem. There is hope, the best thing to do is to prevent it and that’s what we are trying to do,” he added.
READ MORE: DOH confirms Chinese woman 3rd case of nCoV in PH