2 Mati City residents tested positive for COVID-19; Mindanao total now 19

DAVAO CITY—Two patients from the surfing city of Mati in Davao Oriental tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the local government said.

These bring to 19 the total COVID-19 cases in Mindanao, as of Friday, March 27.

Mati City Mayor Michelle Rabat said in a statement on Friday that she was informed by the Department of Health (DOH) about the confirmatory test results from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

Both patients are presently admitted at the Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City and are reportedly in stable condition, the mayor said.

Rabat said that both patients flew to Manila on March 7 and returned to Davao City on the same day aboard a Philippine Airlines flight.

According to her, the two traveled back to Mati on that same day.

On March 10, one of them felt ill and had a checkup at a hospital in Davao City on March 14, Rabat added.

Meanwhile, the other consulted with Mati’s City Health Office and was advised to observe strict self-quarantine.

Rabat added that both eventually were assisted by the local government to have their swab samples taken and sent to Manila on March 18.

“They were among the first batch of PUIs (persons under investigation) whose samples were tested at the subnational laboratory at the Southern Philippines Medical Center. Thus, the results need to be submitted to the RITM for confirmation and quality check,” Rabat said.

Rabat said that the patients and their families are cooperating in the efforts of health workers to do contact tracing starting on the day that they flew back to Davao City.

“The two patients and their family members are very cooperative with our health personnel thus reducing the risk of them infecting more in our community,” Rabat assured.

The latest confirmatory test results bring the total number for COVID-19 cases in the Davao Region to 8 with one patient having successfully recovered from the disease.

Presently there are 176 patients under investigation and 13,825 persons under monitoring in the Davao Region.

Health officials documented 10 deaths among the PUIs while still awaiting test results.