Samar hospital worker is Eastern Visayas’ 6th COVID-19 patient

TACLOBAN CITY—A hospital worker from the town of Tarangnan, Samar province tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the sixth COVID-19 patient in Eastern Visayas.

Dr. Minerva Molon, Department of Health (DOH) director in Eastern Visayas, said at an internet press conference on Monday (April 20) that the latest patient was a 60-year-old woman who was employed as kitchen aide at the Tarangnan Community Hospital.

Two hospital employees, aged 32 and 56, were earlier found positive for coronavirus. Both women, a nurse and a non-medical employee, have since fully recovered and would be discharged from the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center in this city.

The other CoVID-19 patients in Eastern Visayas included a 51-year-old woman in Catarman town, Northern Samar province and a 63-year-old man in Calbayog City, Samar who had been discharged.

Still confined at the EVRMC were a 58-year-old woman from Burauen town in Leyte and the new CoVID-19 case from Tarangnan town.

According to Molon, the woman, who has asthma, was tested on April 16 after she started coughing. Results from the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City came on Monday.

Molon reiterated her appeal to residents, especially in Tarangan, to stay at home and observe personal hygiene since the new case indicated local transmission in the municipality.

“Please help us cut the transmission by staying at home,” Molon said.

She asked people to continue with hygienic practices like frequent washing of hands, maintaining social distance and exercising at home.

Edited by TSB