LUCENA CITY — From only two on Friday, the number of recorded new suspected carriers of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) or patients under investigation (PUIs) in the province of Quezon rose to nine as of Saturday afternoon.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in a public advisory issued at 6 p.m. Saturday said the five new PUIs are confined in undisclosed hospitals while the four were undergoing home quarantine.
The advisory said the nine PUIs are awaiting the result of the test specimen from the national reference laboratory.
The seven PUIs recorded earlier have tested negative for the coronavirus and have been discharged from hospitals.
The PUIs are those who recently traveled to other countries with confirmed COVID-19 cases and had consulted doctors for symptoms they had experienced after returning home.
The IPHO also reported a spike in their record of “persons under monitoring” or PUMs for possibly being carriers of the novel coronavirus.
As of Saturday, the IPHO recorded a total of 650 PUMs since the virus broke out in the country early January which on Friday was only 131.
The 562 PUMs were still under 14-days home quarantine period and were being monitored by local health workers.
At least 88 have completed the mandatory 14-day home quarantine period and remained healthy, the IPHO said.
The PUMs are those who recently returned in the country from places abroad including those who came from local areas with confirmed coronavirus cases but showed symptoms and were advised to go into home quarantine immediately after their arrival in the locality.
The advisory explained that the increase in the number of PUMs “is due to strengthened surveillance.”
But the IPHO stressed that as of Saturday: “Quezon remains negative for COVID-19 cases.”