Wife of 62-year-old coronavirus patient also tests positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines — The wife of the 5th confirmed coronavirus case has been infected with COVID-19, which brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to six, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Saturday.

Health Chief Francisco Duque III announced in a press briefing that the 59-year-old Filipina is experiencing cough and tested positive for the disease.

“DOH reported that the (5th) patient’s wife tested positive for COVID-19 after contact tracing was prompted,” the country’s top health official said, noting that the patient is now under stable condition.

The patient is also staying at the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City along with the two other local cases.

It can be recalled that the fifth confirmed COVID-19 case, which is also the second new case, involved a 62-year-old Filipino male who often visits the Muslim prayer hall in Barangay Greenhills.

Duque said the fifth patient’s relatives are asymptomatic so far.

RITM Director Dr. Celia Carlos said the patients are in stable condition and have “mild symptoms.”

Carlos also told reporters after the press conference that patients in RITM will be discharged from the isolation room after showing two negative results from two tests taken 24 hours apart.

In an ambush interview, Carlos said they are only admitting patients who are infected with snake bites and rabies. The rest of their isolation rooms are reserved for COVID-19 patients.

“We have been responding to so many outbreaks, we are a referral hospital and a laboratory also,” she said.

Carlos assured the public that their personnel and facilities are capable to treat patients positive for the new coronavirus disease.

Edited by MUF