By Marie Tonette Marticio
TACLOBAN City - The Department of Health in Eastern Visayas has confirmed its first case of COVID-19 in the region.
DOH 8 Regional Director Dr. Minerva Molon said the patient is a 51-year old female from Northern Samar who had travel history to Japan.
She arrived in Metro Manila on Jan. 2 and arrived in Catarman, Northern Samar on March 3. On March 7, she went for a consultation to a private hospital due to difficulty in breathing, cough, and colds.
She was referred to the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC) in Tacloban City and was admitted to the intensive care unit for observation.
Director Molon said she was supposed to be discharged on Monday after 15 days with an initial diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), but her test results from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) came back positive for COVID-19 on Monday (March 23).
All of the staff who came in contact with the patient are now under quarantine, while DOH has sent a team to conduct contact tracing among those who might have had close contact with the patient.
Meanwhile, the official assured the public that they are on top of the situation and they were able to manage the patient well, whose condition has greatly improved and is now recovering.
DOH 8 has now recorded a total of 237 patients under investigation (PUIs), 15 of whom are currently admitted, while 31 have been discharged but are still under strict monitoring.