Doctor who treated patients in Davao Oriental hospital positive for coronavirus

DAVAO CITY—A 32-year-old internal medicine doctor from this city, who worked at the Davao Oriental Provincial Medical Center (DOPMC) for two days last week, has tested positive for SARS Cov2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the Mati City government said in a statement.

The patient, a resident doctor at DOPMC, gave samples for testing last May 8 which yielded negative results.

Another test was done last May 27 which yielded a positive result although the doctor showed no symptoms.

Dr. Ben Hur Catbagan Jr., head of incident management team of Mati’s COVID-19 task force, said contact tracing is ongoing for persons who have had contact with the infected doctor.

Catbagan said the patient had worked for two days and “made contact with several other health personnel and patients” on May 25 and 26.

Catbagan said the doctor was found positive last May 30 but where he got the virus wasn’t clear.

Local health workers are rushing to trace patients and hospital staffers in Mati City who had direct contact with the doctor.

Officials, however, said the doctor was now in stable condition in a COVID-19 facility in Davao City.

The provincial government of Davao Oriental issued a statement saying as a result of exposure to the infected doctor, 58 hospital workers, mostly nurses, are now on quarantine.

Officials said 57 of the 58 hospital workers who had exposure to the doctor had no symptoms but one has runny nose and sinusitis.

The provincial government statement said 20 of the hospital workers are on home quarantine while the others are in different isolation facilities.

The hospital said of the 14 patients who received direct care from the infected doctor, only seven remained in the hospital where they were already isolated.

But tracing the rest of the patients is crucial to prevent the possible spread of the virus, Catbagan said.

The patients and their direct contacts will be quarantined and tested, Catbagan added.

He appealed for help in tracing all the patients that had contact with the doctor on May 25 and 26.

Catbagan said all patients who have had contact with the infected doctor should be on quarantine and tested.

He said DOPMC has yet to provide a full list of patients that the infected doctor encountered at the hospital but health officials had already started surveillance and contact tracing using a list from the DOPMC provided by the Regional Epidemiological Surveillance Unit.

According to a Department of Health report, Mati has no active COVID-19 case after three of its patients recovered and were discharged.

But the province of Davao Oriental had recently recorded 12 new cases from the towns of San Isidro and Banaybanay. Eight of them were returning OFWs.

Edited by TSB