MANILA, Philippines — The woman found infected with COVID-19 who is currently confined in a hospital in Caloocan City is a resident of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Caloocan City 1st District Rep. Dale Along Malapitan said this in a Facebook post on Tuesday, adding the patient has been admitted to Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.
In a text message, Malapitan also said the patient is a 58-year-old Filipino female who has no travel history.
A check with the Department of Health (DOH) data shows that the patient referred to by Malapitan is “PH 21”. To date, the Philippines has 33 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.
“Matapos ang berepikasyon sa ating health officers, mayroong isang kumpirmadong kaso ng 2019 coronavirus o COVID-19 na na-admit sa Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital,” he said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.
(After verification from our health officers, there is a confirmed case of 2019 coronavirus or COVID-19 admitted to the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital.)
PH 21 was admitted to the hospital after she experienced fever, cough, and shortness of breath on March 4, based on DOH records. Five days later, she tested positive for the disease.
Malapitan vowed that the Caloocan government will continue to coordinate with DOH regarding PH 21.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2, which causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.