5 suspected COVID-19 patients in Quezon die

LUCENA CITY, Philippines – Health authorities in Quezon reported Thursday that five more suspected coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in the province had died.

In a report released at 5 p.m. (May 7), the Quezon provincial information office (QPIO), citing the latest record from the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) revealed that five more unknown patients had been added to the fatality list of suspected carriers of the coronavirus.

The list of victims rose to 32 from Wednesday’s record of only 27.

The QPIO gave no other details on the deaths of the suspected COVID-19 patients.

Quezon also recorded another recovered COVID-19 patient from Candelaria town, bringing the total number of recovered patients in the province to 21.

The total recorded COVID-19 cases in the province however still remain at 72.

With the recovery of 21 patients and the death of seven others, the number of active COVID-19 carriers in the province is down to 44.

As of Thursday, Quezon has 1,295 recorded suspected coronavirus carriers, a spike from Wednesday’s list of 1,161.

However, 300 of them had been discharged from medical facilities while 709 had been tagged as cleared after their mandatory 14-days home quarantine.

At least 88 suspected carriers are confined in different hospitals and the other 166 still under home isolation.

The QPIO on Thursday also recorded three patients under “probable” classification. One of them is still confined in an undisclosed hospital while the other two had been discharged and completed home quarantine.

An individual is a “probable” case if his/her COVID-19 results are inconclusive, and he/she has been tested in an unofficial laboratory that does the confirmatory testing.

The other 26 towns in the province remain COVID-19-free.

Quezon, considered a high-risk or a “red” province, will remain under enhanced community quarantine until May 15.

/MUF