8-year-old girl, third doctor among new 7 COVID-19 cases in Bicol

LEGAZPI CITY – An eight-year-old girl and a third doctor were among the new seven coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the Bicol region, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday evening.

This brings the total number of coronavirus patients in the region to 57.

The 8-year-old girl from Daraga town is the second youngest patient in the region.

According to DOH, the asymptomatic patient is a close contact of a health worker, who also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on April 28.

The patient tagged as Bicol#52, meanwhile, is a 26-year-old doctor from Daraga town in Albay. He is the third doctor in the region to have contracted COVID-19.

According to DOH, he is a close contact of another doctor who has also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

He first experienced symptoms on April 28 and was swabbed at Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH) on May 4, according to DOH.

The new list of patients also included the first case of COVID-19 in the town of Tigaon in Camarines Sur province—a 23-year-old woman who consulted Bicol Medical Center in Naga City on Tuesday (May 5).

According to DOH, although the patient is asymptomatic, her history of exposure to a COVID-19 patient is being established.

Meanwhile, Bicol#53, a nurse, is from Legazpi City and is a close contact of another health worker. According to DOH, the 38-year-old patient first experienced symptoms on April 29. She is the seventeenth health worker in the region to have contracted COVID-19.

Two other patients from Legazpi City were recorded—a 51-year-old woman and an 18-year-old woman, both of whom are asymptomatic, according to DOH.

They were also tested on April 26 and both were at a quarantine facility as of this writing.

A 44-year-old woman from Daraga town also tested positive, but DOH is still validating whether or not she was exposed to another patient.