LUCENA CITY –– The eighth suspected carrier of the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Quezon province tested negative, a provincial health official said.
Dr. Grace Santiago, Quezon health officer, said the laboratory test result arrived Tuesday and showed negative for COVID-19.
In an online interview, Santiago said the patient was still confined at an undisclosed hospital and being treated for a viral infection.
The patient was recorded as a suspected virus carrier last Saturday.
But the result of the specimen tests from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) was not immediately determined due to the volume of virus testing.
“RITM is dealing with bulk specimens for processing,” Santiago explained.
The seven patients under investigation (PUIs) from the province recorded earlier have also tested negative of the virus and have been sent home.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office, in a public advisory released 5 p.m. Monday, recorded 83 possible virus carriers classified as persons under monitoring (PUM) in the province.
But at least 76 have completed the mandatory 14-day home quarantine period and remained healthy.
The remaining seven PUMs were still under home quarantine and close observation.
The IPHO stressed that Quezon “remains COVID-19 free.”