COTABATO CITY — A pregnant nurse from Kidapawan City who earlier tested positive for coronavirus just recovered from the disease, Cotabato Gov. Nancy Catamco said.
Catamco said she was elated to hear from the situation report of the Department of Health (DOH) on April 24 that the 29-year-old nurse who traveled to Abu Dhabi to meet her husband, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), finally tested negative for coronavirus.
“I am joyful that PH3671 has survived,” the governor said. “Congratulations to our frontliners, our physicians, nurses and other health workers for a job well done. My snappy salute to all of you!” she added.
PH3671 has been confined in an isolation center in Kidapawan City since March 27, only a few days after she arrived in the city from Abu Dhabi.
“She was exposed to her husband who was COVID-19 positive but asymptomatic,” said Dr. Philbert Malaluan, chief of the emergency command center of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19.
The woman is the second COVID-19 patient in Cotabato province after a 45-year old man from Midsayap town (PH3272) was earlier tested positive of the disease.
PH3272 belonged to a cluster of cases from a cockfighting derby in Davao Matina Gallera last month. The 45-year-old PH3272 has been out of the isolation center after he was tested negative of the virus last week.
“The fight is not yet over,” Catamco said. “We are still up for a long fight. I ask everyone and every Cotabateño to stay vigilant and to strictly follow the wearing of mask, physical distancing and washing of hands to keep us safe. Let’s keep praying we can defeat this pandemic,” Catamco said.
Aside from PH3671, two other positive patients in Cotabato province also tested negative, the DOH in region 12 said.
They included PH3268, a 56-year-old man from South Cotabato and PH326, a 38-year-old man from Sultan Kudarat.
Both patients who first tested positive for COVID-19 on April 6, had travel history to Davao City.
The three recovered patients are all in stable condition, DOH-12 said.