By Jennifer P. Rendon and Joseph B.A. Marzan
The Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 confirmed on March 21, 2020 that a 65-year-old man from Guimbal town is the first positive case of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Iloilo province and the second in Western Visayas.
Dr. Marlyn Convocar, Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD)-6 director, said is now in a private hospital in Iloilo City.
The patient had no history of travel to infected areas, but it is possible that he was exposed to his relatives who travelled to Japan and were asymptomatic or did not shows signs and symptoms of the disease.
He had cough and fever on March 6 and was hospitalized March 13. His specimen was collected on the same day and the result was released on March 21.
The Guimbal resident is the second confirmed COVID-19 case after the 56-year-old man from Bacolod City who had a history of travel to the United Kingdom
He is in “unstable condition” now. By unstable, he is in critical condition, isolated and intubated, and his blood pressure is fluctuating.
But Dr. Mary Jane Juanico, DOH-CHD6 infectious disease cluster head, said they cannot divulge where the patient is treated.
“We should respect the privacy of the health facility if they are ready to disclose. But regardless, whether you live near the hospital or not, social distancing should still be observed,” she said.
Dr. Glenn Alonsabe, head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of DOH-CHD 6, said the privacy of the patient must be respected.
“The health facilities themselves are the ones disclosing, and the rumored health facilities can issue disclaimers as they want. We still follow our [Data Privacy Act] and we will honor the privacy of the health facility. Please bear with us as we are still conducting contact tracing. Please give a chance to our health workers in the lower levels to do their jobs, because it will unnecessarily make the contacts hide because they knew that they were contacted by this patient,” Alonsabe said.
The Medical City in Molo district has confirmed in a statement that the patient is in its care. The hospital all workers who had contact with the patient were quarantined.
Meanwhile, Medicus Medical Center on its Facebook page has denied earlier reports on social media that the patient was staying at their hospital.
“Medicus Medical Center reserves the right to take legal actions against those who will be caught and proven to spread fake news involving the hospital,” it warned in its social media post.
Convocar said they are now investigating individuals who might have close contact with the patient in the last 14 days.
By close contact, Convocar said these are individuals who have directly cared, converged in the same place, and travelled with the patient.
“The DOH Western Visayas Center for Health Development strongly advises people who had been in contact with the two positive patients to cooperate with their LGUs and health officials. Disclosing accurate and vital information to the health authorities especially on the history of travel to areas with positive cases and/or exposure to a positive case will help in the proper management and at the same time ensure the safety of health personnel and the community in general,” Convocar said.
As of March 20, 2020 (before the two positive cases were revealed) Western Visayas has 136 persons under investigation (PUIs) wherein 67 are admitted, 15 are outpatient, and 54 were discharged.
The number of persons under monitoring (PUMs) is 25,847. Most of them are in Iloilo province with 6,968 and Negros Occidental with 4,662.
The DOH-CHD 6 sent specimens of 32 PUIs to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) on March 18, but the results have yet to be released.
INFORMATION
Juanico appealed to the public to be honest about their medical information.
“In this time of crisis, when you consult at health facilities, please be honest if you have history of travel or had been in contact with someone who is COVID-positive,” she said.
Once health care providers missed out on information because a patient lied, “we would be compromising proper health management on your end and we would also be putting our health workers at risk.”
Health authorities and local chief executives also warned the public against rumor mongering and spreading of fake news.
Dr. Alonsabe said that information on patients are being processed through proper channels.
“Once the results were sent to us, we informed Director (Convocar) of the result, then the concerned local chief executives. The health facility where they are admitted are also informed of the result,” he said.
It was at that juncture when Mayor Jerry Treñas blew his top against persons who prematurely divulged information, verified or not.
Before the DOH confirmation of the COVID-positive case in a press conference at the City Hall, somebody sent text messages about the patient after the pieces of information came out in social medical platform Facebook.
Treñas said this is not the right time to race against anyone who got the information firsthand.
“What will you get out of it? If you know something, just keep it to yourself,” he angrily said while spewing invectives.
Instead, he told the public to wait for the formal announcement from health authorities.
