GUINOBATAN, Albay, Philippines — A nurse and a midwife, both from the province of Albay, tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases in the Bicol region to 64.
According to Dr. Antonio Ludovice, chief of the Albay Provincial Health Office, a patient from Legazpi City, tagged Bicol#63, works as a nurse at the operating room, where his close contact Bicol#46 also works.
The 33-year-old patient, Ludovice said, first showed symptoms on May 3 and had a consultation a day after.
Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal said that Barriada (Purok 2) in Barangay Gogon, where the patient lives, might not be locked down because the patient had been confined in a quarantine facility for almost two weeks before testing positive.
Meanwhile, Bicol#64 is a midwife assigned at a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where her close contact Bicol#36 also works.
According to Daraga Mayor Victor Perete, the patient is a resident of Barangay Sagpon.
Ludovice said that the asymptomatic 47-year-old patient had her consultation on April 29.
With these two new cases, the total number of health workers who contracted the disease was now 22.
The number of cases in Albay is now 52. In Camarines Sur, the number of cases remains at 10. Camarines Norte and Catanduanes have one case each.
According to the Department of Health in Bicol, 95 tests were conducted on Wednesday.
/atm