LUCENA CITY – Health authorities in Quezon province revealed Sunday that a person turned out positive for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.
Dr. Grace Santiago, a provincial health officer, also disclosed that another suspected carrier classified as “patient under investigation” (PUI) died, the first recorded individual infected with COVID-19 in the province.
Santiago did not provide details on the identity of the confirmed case as well as the first casualty.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded 21 PUIs in Quezon, a spike from Saturday’s record of only 16.
However, seven PUIs recorded last month have tested negative for the virus and were already sent home from the hospital.
The remaining 14 new PUIs have been confined in undisclosed hospitals while some are undergoing home quarantine.
Santiago explained that the laboratory test result of the lone casualty has yet to be known.
PUIs are those who recently traveled to mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and other virus-hit countries who have consulted doctors due to coughs, cold, or fever after returning home.
As of Saturday, IPHO recorded a total of 4,944 possible carriers of the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, or those classified as “person under monitoring” or PUM, a big increase from Saturday’s record of 650.
The 4,854 PUMs were still under the 14-day home quarantine and were being monitored by local health workers.
At least 90 have completed the mandatory 14-day home quarantine and remained healthy, the record showed.
PUMs are those who recently returned in the country from places abroad as well as those who came from local areas with confirmed coronavirus cases “but showed no respiratory symptoms” and were advised to go into home quarantine immediately after their arrival in the locality.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which outbreak started in China’s Wuhan City in Hubei province in late 2019.
he World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic since it has infected more than 150,000 people and killed nearly 6,000 all over the world. The Philippines has so far confirmed 140 people with COVID-19, including 11 deaths.