Davao City PUI tests negative for COVID-19
Published Mar 10, 2020 12:00 am
By Antonio Colina IV
DAVAO CITY – Davao City remains free from the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) as laboratory results conducted by Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on the test swab taken from a patient confined at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) tested negative for the disease, Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) Chief of Hospital Dr. Leopoldo Vega confirmed on Tuesday.
A hospital personnel delivers oxygen tanks inside the isolation facility of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), where persons under investigation due to suspected Covid-19 are admitted in Davao City. As of March 10 noon, the city remains Covid-19 free after the two PUIs have been tested negative. (Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Result is negative for PUI (person under investigation),” Vega said in a text message.
Department of Health (DOH)-Davao director Annabelle Yumang said the test swab was brought to RITM last Saturday for testing.
She said the patient, a foreigner, would be discharged immediately.
“The PUIs are being admitted and stringent precautions are undertaken. There is no time for complacency, measures have been undertaken as we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” she added.
According to Yumang, a patient is considered PUI when he manifests symptoms of the new coronavirus such as cough, fever, and difficulty of breathing; has traveled to restricted countries with a high number of COVID-19 cases; or had direct contact with patients positive for COVID-19.
She said DOH-Davao previously recorded a total of 24 PUIs who have all been cleared.
“We should be very clear that there is a risk that people might be incubating the virus, so we isolate and monitor them to protect the rest of the public. That is why, PUIs are being admitted and stringent precautions are being taken. This is no time for complacency,” she said.
The Philippine government restricted travel to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and South Korea, and imposed a selective travel ban to travelers from North Gyeongsang Province, including city of Daegu, the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea.
Yumang did not disclose the nationality of the patient and his travel history, but said the country where he came from was not among the restricted countries. The patient arrived in the city last March 2.
Vega added the SPMC was capable of handling PUIs, noting that the state-owned tertiary hospital was equipped with “depressurize” containment facility that can hold a maximum of 10 patients, materials, and trained personnel to take care of the patients.
On Saturday, the DOH raised its alert system to Code Red after it confirmed another two cases of COVID-19, one of them with no known travel history abroad. Code Red is a “preemptive call to ensure national and local government and public and private healthcare providers can prepare for a possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases."
Yumang said the alert level was raised as a “pre-emptive call to ensure that national and local governments, public and private health care providers can prepare for the possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.”
She urged the public to avoid crowded places, and continue to practice “hygiene by frequently washing their hands with soap and water very frequently, practice proper coughing and sneezing etiquette and proper disposal of used tissue.”
A hospital personnel delivers oxygen tanks inside the isolation facility of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), where persons under investigation due to suspected Covid-19 are admitted in Davao City. As of March 10 noon, the city remains Covid-19 free after the two PUIs have been tested negative. (Keith Bacongco / MANILA BULLETIN)
“Result is negative for PUI (person under investigation),” Vega said in a text message.
Department of Health (DOH)-Davao director Annabelle Yumang said the test swab was brought to RITM last Saturday for testing.
She said the patient, a foreigner, would be discharged immediately.
“The PUIs are being admitted and stringent precautions are undertaken. There is no time for complacency, measures have been undertaken as we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” she added.
According to Yumang, a patient is considered PUI when he manifests symptoms of the new coronavirus such as cough, fever, and difficulty of breathing; has traveled to restricted countries with a high number of COVID-19 cases; or had direct contact with patients positive for COVID-19.
She said DOH-Davao previously recorded a total of 24 PUIs who have all been cleared.
“We should be very clear that there is a risk that people might be incubating the virus, so we isolate and monitor them to protect the rest of the public. That is why, PUIs are being admitted and stringent precautions are being taken. This is no time for complacency,” she said.
The Philippine government restricted travel to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, and South Korea, and imposed a selective travel ban to travelers from North Gyeongsang Province, including city of Daegu, the center of the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea.
Yumang did not disclose the nationality of the patient and his travel history, but said the country where he came from was not among the restricted countries. The patient arrived in the city last March 2.
Vega added the SPMC was capable of handling PUIs, noting that the state-owned tertiary hospital was equipped with “depressurize” containment facility that can hold a maximum of 10 patients, materials, and trained personnel to take care of the patients.
On Saturday, the DOH raised its alert system to Code Red after it confirmed another two cases of COVID-19, one of them with no known travel history abroad. Code Red is a “preemptive call to ensure national and local government and public and private healthcare providers can prepare for a possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases."
Yumang said the alert level was raised as a “pre-emptive call to ensure that national and local governments, public and private health care providers can prepare for the possible increase in suspected and confirmed cases.”
She urged the public to avoid crowded places, and continue to practice “hygiene by frequently washing their hands with soap and water very frequently, practice proper coughing and sneezing etiquette and proper disposal of used tissue.”