LUCENA CITY, Philippines – The number of suspected carriers of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Quezon province continues to rise with the addition of six patients, according to provincial health officials.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded 41 patients under investigation (PUI), an increase from Tuesday’s record of 35.
A report showed that 22 PUIs were confined in various hospitals, while eight are under home quarantine and one has been transferred to a place not disclosed.
In a phone interview Thursday, Dr. Anneavbit Talan-De Luna said another PUI was discovered and is now confined.
At least eight of the PUIs recorded earlier have tested negative for the virus.
The report said the laboratory test of the possible lone mortality from the virus in the province had yet to be known, so he was still counted as a PUI. The patient died from severe pneumonia, according to the IPHO.
Once the test result showed positive of the virus, the casualty will be officially listed as the first COVID-19 victim in Quezon.
Unlike in past reports, the IPHO no longer shows the total numbers of those classified as “persons under monitoring” (PUM) in the province because it has become a “useless indicator,” Dr. Grace Santiago, Quezon health officer, explained.
Santiago said there are PUMs who were not subjecting themselves to strict 14-days home quarantine.
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”