BAGUIO CITY — A 61-year-old woman who had traveled to Italy is the first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this city, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday (March 23).
Dr. Amelita Pangilinan, DOH Cordillera regional director, said the woman is an overseas Filipino worker in Italy who returned to the city last March 2.
Italy is now COVID-19’s worst hit country after the number of cases ebbed in China, where the pandemic started.
The woman showed symptoms of COVID-19 like cough and colds and has been admitted to the Baguio General Hospital. She is the second COVID-19 case in the Cordillera region.
Pangilinan said health authorities had started the process of contact tracing involving the woman’s family and relatives.
A person who reportedly came in contact with the patient is currently asymptomatic, Pangilinan said.
The first COVID-19 case in Cordillera was a 39-year-old seafarer from Abra.
Records from the DOH showed that there are 143 patients under investigation (PUIs), or those showing symptoms, in the Cordillera as of Monday.
Forty-nine of them are on home quarantine while 52 were discharged from hospitals. The other 42 remain confined in different hospitals.