14 with flu symptoms test negative for COVID-19 in Cagayan de Oro hospital

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Fourteen persons quarantined at the state-run Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) here have tested negative for novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the hospital chief said on Monday (March 23).

Dr. Jose Chan, NMMC medical center chief, said four of the patients have tested negative on Saturday (March 21), while the remaining 10 on Sunday (March 22).

There are now 10 persons under investigation (PUIs), or those with symptoms, still on quarantine at the NMMC, he said, adding that most of the patients were doing well.

He said most of the PUI who were cleared by the NMMC came from Cagayan de Oro City and Bukidnon.

Chan said most of the patients who tested negative for COVID-19 had contracted the influenza virus, which had the same symptoms that included cough, colds, fever and body pain.

He said the PUI were already sent home after they had recovered even before the end of their 14-day quarantine.

“If the patients start to feel well after two weeks, we will discharge them, even if their test has not yet arrived,” Chan told reporters during the daily COVID-19 press briefing at the city mayor’s office on Monday.

Chan also announced that the 40 NMMC health workers who went on a 14-day quarantine at the hospital and who tested negative for COVID-19 would return to work on Tuesday (March 24).

The Department of Health’s Epidemiology, Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit reported a total of 186 PUI in Northern Mindanao as of March 22.

Of the total, 123 are still on quarantine, 34 have been discharged, 10 have completed their 14-day quarantine while 16 have been admitted to hospitals.

Persons under monitoring (PUMs), or those with no symptoms, in the region have reached 2,698, according to the DOH data.

Aside from the death of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Mindanao, the DOH reported two other PUI died here before getting their test results.

The two women PUI, aged 33 and 44, died of severe acute respiratory illness on March 18 while on quarantine at the NMMC.

Chan said the women had preexisting health conditions like diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.

Respiratory samples had been taken from one of the women but as of Monday (March 23), the specimen has yet to be sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in Muntinlupa.

On March 13, a Friday, Mindanao’s first COVID-19 patient, known only as PH40, died at the NMMC isolation ward.

He was a 54-year-old man from Pasig City. His wife has tested negative for the disease and had been discharged on Monday while his daughter was still on quarantine.

Edited by TSB