By Emme Rose Santiagudo
A 72-year-old male resident of Iloilo City died of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the first in Western Visayas, according to the Department of Health-Center for Health Development (COH-CHD)-6.
A health bulletin from DOH-CHD-6 released Friday indicated that Patient WV No. 11 died on March 19, 2020 due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and Community Acquired Pneumonia-High Risk.
The patient had history of travel to Manila and suffered fever and cough as initial symptoms.
The health department also reported nine new positive cases in Western Visayas, including the first fatality from Iloilo City, with 22 years old as the youngest and 81 as the oldest.
Most of the new cases travelled to Manila.
The fifth case involved an 81-year-old male from Aklan province with travel history to Manila while the sixth case is a 75-year-old male from Bacolod City also with travel history to Manila.
A 40-year-old male from Bacolod City with travel history to Manila and 68-year-old male from Aklan with travel history to Manila are the region’s seventh and eight cases.
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old son of the first confirmed case in the region, who is from Bacolod City, also tested positive for COVID-19.
The other new cases recorded in the region are:
-WV # 10: 59-year-old female from Iloilo Province; no history of exposure to a positive case nor travel history;
-WV # 12: 22-year-old female from Iloilo Province; with history of travel to Manila;
-WV # 13: 37-year-old male from Aklan; travel and exposure history for verification.
The new positive cases bring the total COVID-19 cases in the region to 13.
The first case was reported in Bacolod City on March 20 while the second was in Iloilo province on March 21.
Early this week, two more cases were reported in Iloilo City and another in Capiz province.
The breakdown of positive cases by province and city is:
-Aklan – 3
-Capiz -1
-Iloilo Province – 3
-Iloilo City – 2
-Bacolod City – 4
BACKLOG
The DOH Central Office has announced that the surge of positive cases can be attributed to the backlog of the test results.
The presence of testing laboratory in the region and the availability of testing kits can also mean that more positive cases in the region will soon be uncovered.
“The more tests that we have, the many positive cases we will know. Amo na sang una ginapilit ta gid ang testing because ako as a decision maker, ano pagdecide ko kun waay kita information. And information in our case is only available kon may ara kita test kits,” Mayor Jerry Treñas, said in a press conference on Friday.
“We have to know because if we do not know paano kita ka-contact tracing kang iban na contact sila so we have to know,” he furthered.
Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao district, which was accredited as a subnational testing laboratory, has started running COVID-19 tests on Tuesday.
The laboratory can handle 30 to 35 specimens daily with results available in a span of one to three days.
The region having its own testing laboratory is an advantage, according to Dr. Jane Juanico head of the Infectious Disease Division of DOH-CHD-6.
Treñas said DOH-CHD-6 Regional Director Dr. Marlyn Convocar told him that around 100,000 testing kits will be allotted to Western Visayas.
“Of course, that’s not sufficient for the whole of region 6 but subong mapasiguro ta na nga mabal-an ta …like sa aton medical workers we can test them especially those who handled allegedly ang mga positive cases. We will use it judiciously,” he said.
The 2,500 testing kits from South Korea which was purchased by the city government using cash donations from Ilonggo businessmen will arrive in the country by March 27, the mayor added.
Meanwhile, Juanico said that the results of the laboratory testing in WVMC will still undergo a final validation at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Manila.
“All results pass through final validation of RITM,” she said.
STABLE CONDITION
Meanwhile, the first four positive cases in the region are in “stable” condition, according to the health department.
The first case, a 56-year-old male from Bacolod City, is stable and his condition has improved.
The health department said they are awaiting the confirmatory result of his second swab test.
All 17 persons who had contact with the region’s first case have also been traced. All of them are asymptomatic, the DOH-CHD 6 reported.
The second case, a 65-year-old male from Iloilo province, is already out of the mechanical ventilator and remains under stable condition. His wife, who was identified as his close contact, tested negative for COVID-19, according to DOH-CHD 6.
“His wife is currently admitted in a hospital but apparently stable with negative result for Covid-19,” the health department said.
All 71 contacts of the second case have been traced and are asymptomatic (no signs and symptoms).
The third case, a 61-year-old female from Iloilo City, is also in stable condition.
The fourth case, a 45-year-old from Capiz province, is also stable and no longer in respiratory distress.
The health department had also traced the persons who had contact of the third (9 contacts) and fourth (153 contacts) cases.
PUMs and PUIs
As of noon of March 26, 2020, DOH-CHD-6 recorded 276 Patients Under Investigation (PUIs) or patients with symptoms, have history of travel to infected areas, and were possibly exposed to positive cases. The bulletin indicated that 127 PUIs tested negative for COVID-19 while 79 were discharged, and 95 still admitted to hospitals.
Also, 11,124 out of 41,915 persons under monitoring (PUMs) had already completed the 14-day home quarantine.
PUMs are persons who don’t have symptoms but have history of travel to infected areas, and were possibly exposed to positive cases.
