DAVAO CITY–A COVID-19 patient sneaked out of an isolation facility here at the weekend and has now gone missing, the local government said.
Mayor Sara Duterte confirmed that a female patient, who tested positive for the highly infectious disease, dodged health workers and security forces and left an isolation facility on Saturday (May 9).
“We are looking for one patient who sneaked out of a room where she was confined,” Duterte said on Monday (May 11) afternoon.
Duterte refused to disclose the identity of the patient but she said she was a resident of Barangay 23-C, one of the COVID-19 hot spots in the city.
Local authorities rushed to Barangay 23-C to check the house of the patient but failed to find her there.
“She is currently missing. She is not in her house and barangay. We do not know where she is right now,” Duterte said.
The mayor added that there were also reports about other patients who attempted to escape quarantine facilities.
The local government earlier said the city had been giving patients all they needed to ensure their comfort and cooperation.
Duterte said one of the possible reasons for the escape was the patient’s desire to reunite with her family.
Additional security forces had been deployed to guard isolation facilities.
The Department of Health, in its latest bulletin, reported 159 confirmed cases in Davao City with at least 20 deaths.