PUI in Occidental Mindoro dies before release of COVID-19 test results
MANILA, Philippines – An 84-year-old patient under investigation (PUI) in Occidental Mindoro died even before receiving the results of the COVID-19 test, the Provincial Health Office confirmed in a statement issued on Monday.
The PUI, who was confined at the San Jose District Hospital, died last Sunday evening due to acute respiratory disease syndrome (ARDS) secondary to pneumonia.
The PUI also had chronic cardiac disease, chronic renal disease, diabetes, and lupus.
The PUI’s test results were pending with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City.
The PUI was brought to the hospital last Sunday noon for high fever and shortness of breath.
Specimens were sourced from the patient at around 5:00 p.m., but he eventually died around 10:00 p.m. of the same day.
This is not the first time that a PUI being checked for possible COVID-19 infection died before even receiving his or her test results.
Recently, Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate urged the Department of Health should widen the scope of its COVID-19 response, as the bodies of some patients who had died would no longer be submitted for confirmatory testing as they would be cremated.
Several sectors have pushed for mass testing, especially for health workers, who have a higher risk of contracting the latest coronavirus strain, and for people in communities with reported local transmissions.
READ: Zarate: Gov’t COVID-19 response should include whole PH, not just Metro Manila
READ: Set aside part of additional budget for health workers, mass testing – CHR
As of Monday, the whole of Luzon and Occidental Mindoro were still under an enhanced community quarantine due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. This means that only frontline service operators like health care workers and service crew members would be allowed to go to work.
According to the Department of Health, there are already 462 confirmed cases in the Philippines, 33 of whom have died and 18 have recovered.
Worldwide, over 334,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, of whom 14,608 patients have died and another 96,243 have recovered.
READ: Luzon now under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ – Palace
READ: DOH: 462 people now infected with COVID-19 in PH
The COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses with surfaces havinga crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.
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For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
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